Improving Teaching Effectiveness: Using Clips from K-Drama to Train Health Care Professionals for Mass Casualty Incident Response

Introduction: Singapore is a densely populated nation with a population density of 8207 people/km 2 . Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) is a 795-bed public acute care hospital that sees over 138,000 patients annually, and must be operationally ready to respond to mass casualty incidents (MCI). This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a new teaching method using clips from popular Korean medical dramas to enhance interest, realism, and preparedness for staff, most of whom lack prior training or experience for MCI. Methods: A 90-minute training session was developed to teach the specific scenarios where department staff may be involved during an MCI. These are a) deployment to the MCI site as part of a Field Medical Team (FMT), b) Hospital decontamination team for HAZMAT incidents, and c) Hospital management of MCI casualties. Key concepts like onsite triage, field management and safety, decontamination indications and techniques, and department MCI protocols were taught. Clips from Korean-drama series depicting realistic scenes from a) building collapse with management of casualties at onsite first aid post, b) hospital decontamination of casualties with chemical injuries after a factory fire, and c) A&E triage, organization, and management of multiple casualties were played. Results: Sixty-three health care workers participated and shared their anonymous evaluations. 33% had prior experience in MCI training or drills. On a scale of 0-5, the mean self-rated knowledge on MCI response was 2.4, rising to 3.9 after the session. The mean self-perceived level of preparedness was 2.4, rising to 3.8 after the session. All participants found the session useful and effective in preparing them for MCI response, with a mean overall rating of 4.2 for the session. Conclusion: This new teaching method is simple and inexpensive to prepare and is shown to be effective in training staff. More research may be performed to determine its long-term effectiveness.