Abstract

Abstract --Confined space medicine is one of the most important training for urban search and rescue. However, the construction of a confined space for training is usually time- and cost-consuming. To construct a virtual confined space, we utilized the materials available at hand such as 30 to 50 long tables, 60 paper boxes, 20 large curtains, 4 Manikins for resuscitation and intubation, 1 pack of flour, 5 rolls of sealing tapes and 1 make-up box in six training courses in 2002. We designed a questionnaire to evaluate the reality, difficulty, safety, creativity, and applicability of the model. The time elapse for constructing the virtual confined space was in average 45+5 min and that for cleaning up 25+5 min. The average cost for setting up the tunnel was 950+80 NSD. Of 432 questionnaires, the average scores for 5 items were 7.8+1.4 for reality, 6.5+1.8 for difficulty, 9.0+0.6 for safety, 9.3+1.1 for creativity, and 9.0+0.8 for applicability. For the items of applicability, the subheadings of adequacy for practicing BTLS, definitive care, communication, and full evaluation were obtained 9.4+1.4, 9.3+1.2, 8.6+1.4 and 8.3+1.5, respectively (P<0.05 by ANOVA). In conclusion, we create a simple model of virtual confined space that will be of help in the comparable training courses.