Life-saving Instruction for Emergencies (LIFE) is a smartphone-based virtual learning platform that allows healthcare workers to access high quality medical training in low-resource settings. Developed by doctors, nurses and researchers at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) in Kenya and the University of Oxford, the platform has now launched new training scenarios to help healthcare workers in Africa safely deliver care to children with suspected COVID-19.
LIFE allows healthcare workers to enter a realistic 3D virtual hospital on their own smartphones, allowing them to train anywhere, anytime. In low-resource settings such as Kenya, access to simulation training can be difficult and expensive, so using their own smartphones to train could enable more healthcare workers to receive the high-quality training they need to save lives.
Neonatal resuscitation training delivered through the LIFE smartphone app has been rolled out to more than 5,000 healthcare workers through partnerships with medical and nursing schools and professional organisations such as the Kenya Paediatric Association and the Nursing Council of Kenya. This new update to the LIFE app adds three new training scenarios on the management of children with suspected COVID-19.
Conrad Wanyama, a nurse from the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme who led the development of the covid-19 clinical content, said: 'We have used official WHO guidance to develop a highly engaging training app for healthcare workers in Africa. The COVID-19 scenarios use 3D animations and videos to show how to follow correct infection control procedures to safely and effectively manage children who are suspected of having COVID-19.'
Dr Chris Paton, the lead researcher for LIFE from the University of Oxford, collaborates with NDCN's Hilary Edgcombe on this project. He commented: 'Smartphones are now very commonly used by healthcare workers in Africa. After downloading the app for free to their phones, healthcare workers can now train anywhere that is convenient and learn the key steps they need to know to save lives in emergencies.'
Life-saving Instruction for Emergences (LIFE) is a virtual reality and smartphone app delivering medical training through mobile and VR platforms. The platform was initially developed by clinicians and researchers at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and the University of Oxford, and its development has been supported by HTC, Oxford University Innovation, GCRF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, Saving Lives at Birth and Médecins Sans Frontières.
Download the LIFE app for free for smartphones or search for “Life-saving Instruction for Emergencies” on the Google Play Store.
Follow the LIFE project on twitter @OxLIFEproject