Crisis Management Simulation: Practicing to Save Lives - Cormac O’Sullivan
That’s the gap simulation fills. And it’s a gap we can no longer afford.
In healthcare, we know what causes many bad outcomes. Decades of closed claims analyses have shown us that in high-stress situations, mental overload often causes clinicians to freeze or take the wrong steps, in the wrong order, at the wrong time. The literature is clear. The real problem isn’t a lack of knowledge or skill — it’s performance under pressure.
Simulation Helps Us Practice What We Can’t Afford to Get Wrong
Simulation — especially crisis management simulation — provides a psychologically safe, hands-on way to rehearse rare but high-stakes emergencies. Whether you’re in an OR in Des Moines, a critical access hospital in rural Iowa, or a military field unit, the principles of crisis response are the same.
When teams practice:
- Communication gets sharper.
- Decisions get faster.
- Outcomes get better.
With Simulation in Motion–Iowa (SIM-IA), we’ve brought mobile simulation training directly to rural hospitals across the state. I’ve personally facilitated perioperative crisis simulations for over 15 years, helping clinical teams practice management of cardiac arrest, malignant hyperthermia, hemorrhage, anaphylaxis, and more.
The response is always the same: “We didn’t realize how much we needed this until we did it.”
From Muscle Memory to Mental Models
In crisis, there’s no time to think things through from scratch. You rely on mental models, rehearsed patterns, and practiced teamwork. Just like placing an AED during sudden cardiac arrest, the action must be automatic. You know where to stand. You know what to say. You know what to do.
And the only way to build that fluency is through deliberate, repeated, mastery-level practice.
That’s why I’ve devoted the past 15+ years to developing, teaching, and scaling crisis management simulation — at national and international levels. I’ve run workshops at the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology’s Annual Congress, and I’ll be bringing simulation to the 15th World Congress of Nurse Anaesthetists in Brisbane next year. The SIM-IA program will receive the Edge Runner Award from the American Academy of Nursing this fall — a recognition of the critical role simulation plays in health system transformation.
What If We Could Prevent 80% of Bad Outcomes?
Here’s what keeps me going: based on decades of claims data and system failures, we already know the root causes of the majority of adverse events in healthcare. If we design training systems that allow clinicians to practice those moments relentlessly, expertly, and realistically — we could eliminate up to 80% of them.
That’s not just hopeful thinking. That’s science. That’s simulation.
Simulation Is Not a Nice-to-Have — It’s a Must-Have
This isn’t about adding one more requirement to an already overwhelmed workforce. It’s about giving people the tools to do their jobs well when it matters most. Because the most dangerous time to learn what to do in a crisis — is during one.
Simulation builds confidence. It saves lives. And it’s time we treated it like the essential tool it is.
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