Quick Start Guide
What you need
You can run a simulation with one laptop and one screen the team can see. Everything runs in a web browser at emsimulator.com; there is nothing to install.
| Device | Who uses it | Needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Laptop or tablet: the instructor screen | You, out of the team's sight | Always |
| A second screen, TV, projector or device: the room monitor | The team | Always |
| A tablet: the defib | The team | Only for Defib Sim, or if you want the team to use a defibrillator |
| A tablet: the ventilator (transport ventilator, or the anaesthetic machine or ICU ventilator for Anaesthetics / ICU) | The team | Optional, for Ventilator Sim or a ventilated patient. Without one, the ventilator shows on the room monitor instead |
- Every device needs an internet connection. The screens link to each other online using a session code.
- Sound (alarms and beeps) plays on the room monitor by default, so turn its volume up.
- You do not need to sign in to run the built-in scenarios.
Step 1: Open the app
- On your laptop, open emsimulator.com. It asks What is this device for? Choose Controller.
- Note the six-character Session Code (for example K7PQ3M). It is shown at the bottom of the start screen and in the top right corner as "Session ID" once a scenario is running.
- The code is what links the room monitor, the defib and the ventilator to your screen. Each group can keep the same code all day.
Starting with a new group? Open Connect patient screens and press New code. Any monitor or defib still on the old code will need to join again.
Step 2: Choose a scenario
The start screen asks What do you want to run? Pick a card. For most teaching, use Scenario library. All options takes you back to the cards.
| Card | Use it for | How to start |
|---|---|---|
| Scenario library | A ready-written scenario (anaphylaxis, sepsis, trauma, paediatrics and more) | Pick a category, press Load, read the brief, press Start Scenario, then START |
| Quick Sim | A blank patient you control by hand, for ad-hoc bedside teaching | Set age, weight and starting rhythm, press Start Quick Sim, then START |
| Defib Sim | Defibrillation, cardioversion and pacing skills on the defib tablet | Pick Education or Assessment, pick a scenario, press Start Defib Sim, then START (or it starts at the learner's first press on the defib) |
| Ventilator Sim | Ventilator skills on the transport ventilator: nine scenarios covering NIV, CPAP, invasive ventilation, troubleshooting, mucus plugging and transfer | Pick Education or Assessment, pick a scenario, press Start Ventilator Sim, then START |
| Anaesthetics / ICU | The anaesthetic machine for anaesthetic emergencies for novice anaesthetists (Quick Reference Handbook), and the ICU ventilator for ICU ventilation | Pick the machine, Education or Assessment and a scenario, press Start anaesthetic machine scenario (or Start ICU ventilator scenario), then START |
| Random scenario | A generated patient from a category and acuity you choose | Press Generate Scenario, then start it |
| My scenarios | Scenarios you have written or imported, saved to your account (sign in to save) | Load one from Saved, or write one in Builder, then start it |
The brief shown before Start Scenario has the patient story, equipment, expected progression, key interventions and learning objectives. Read it before the team comes in.
Step 3: Set up the room monitor (and defib)
You do not have to set the screens up before you start: you can connect screens at any time, from Connect patient screens at the bottom of the start screen or from Screens during a scenario.
On each patient screen (tablet, laptop or TV), scan the QR code shown on the controller. No camera? Open the site, choose Patient screen, type the code and press Connect. That is all: the screen does not ask what it is.
On the controller, every screen appears numbered (1, 2, 3 ...), and while the Screens panel is open each screen shows its big number, so you can see which is which. For each screen, tick what it shows: Monitor, Defib, Ventilator, or a mix. Or press a Quick set-up, such as Monitor | Defib + ventilator. Change it whenever you like, even mid-scenario; the screen changes straight away.
A screen plugged into this computer (an extra monitor or projector): press Open a patient screen on this computer, drag the new window onto that screen and make it full screen.
A new screen starts by showing everything (the monitor, switching to the defib or ventilator when you bring them in). If you bring in a device that no screen shows, the controller warns you.
Then:
- On the room monitor, tap Tap to Enable Sound if it shows. Browsers block sound until someone taps the screen; once sound is allowed the button does not come back for later scenarios.
- Check the badge at the top of your instructor screen. It should read Live and name the linked screen (for example "Live · patient monitor").
Step 4: Run the scenario
You play the patient. When the team does something, you press the matching button, and the monitor and patient respond.
| When the team… | You press… |
|---|---|
| Puts on ECG, sats, cuff and temperature probe | Attach on the Monitoring & access bar. Until then the room monitor shows no numbers |
| Asks for a blood pressure | Cycle NIBP Now. The room monitor only shows a new BP when the cuff cycles. When you change the BP, choose Change, don't send (they see it at the next cycle) or Change and cycle cuff now |
| Gives a drug or does a procedure | Find it in the search box or the tabs (Common, Drugs, Airway…) and tap it |
| Does something that should change a vital sign | Tap that vital's tile, type the new value, choose Now, 30 s, 2 min or 5 min, then Confirm (BP starts on Now and has its own two buttons) |
| Lets the patient arrest | ARREST ▾ and choose the rhythm |
| Gets the patient back | ROSC ▾ |
Also useful:
- PAUSE / START (or the space bar) stops and starts the clock.
- Back pauses the scenario and returns to the setup screen. Press Return to scenario there to carry on where you left off.
- Patient condition shows whether the patient gets worse on their own (AUTO) or only when you change things (MANUAL). Better and Worse nudge the whole patient.
- Event log (bottom right) records everything with a time. Type a note and press Add note, or tap the flag beside any entry to discuss it later.
- Simple / Full (top bar): Simple hides the advanced controls. Use Full when you need them.
Step 5: Finish and debrief
- Press Finish and confirm. The debrief screen opens on your laptop.
- Use it to lead the debrief:
- Performance Summary: which learning objectives were met, partly done or not done.
- Defib Sim feedback (Defib Sim) and Ventilator feedback (any session that used the ventilator): good practice and areas for improvement. The ventilator feedback also lists when each problem was injected and how long it took to fix.
- Obs, interventions and changes: a graph of the patient's obs over the whole session, with the rhythm, every treatment, every change you made and your flags marked and numbered. Hover over it to read the values at any moment.
- Simulation Log: every action with its time.
- Press Download PDF to keep a copy, or Print. Certificate (Defib Sim only) makes a certificate of completion for the learner.
- Press Exit to Menu to set up the next scenario. The room monitor, defib and ventilator stay linked, and the ventilator starts afresh for the next scenario.
Quick fixes
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Room monitor shows no numbers | The team has not "attached" monitoring yet. Press Attach on the Monitoring & access bar |
| No sound | Tap Tap to Enable Sound on the room monitor if it shows, and check its volume. Tools → Sound plays on chooses which screen plays it |
| Badge says Sync error | Check the internet connection on each device |
| Room monitor or defib not following your changes | Check it has the same session code as your laptop; join again if not |
| Instructor tab closed by mistake | Reopen the site and press Resume under "Resume Previous?" |
| Pressed Back by mistake | The scenario is paused, not lost. Press Return to scenario on the setup screen, then START |
| Defib Sim log times stuck at 00:00 | The clock has not started. Press START, or it starts at the learner's first press on the defib |
Keyboard shortcuts: Space = pause or start; F = finish; D = drug calculator; T = timer alerts; ? = list of shortcuts. They work straight after you click a button, except that Space then presses that button again; they do nothing while you are typing in a box or a pop-up is open.
For everything else, see the Full Instructor Guide.