Stop play: key takeaways on physical safety awareness in healthcare simulation education

Healthcare simulation is a practice used to train healthcare workers and refine their clinical and behavioral skills. This practice is underpinned by its safe learning environments, where participants can learn from their mistakes without fear of patient harm. A safe learning environment in simulation education encompasses physical and psychological safety. To date, physical safety has rarely been discussed in the literature. This criterion aims to act as a catalyst to motivate situationists to think explicitly about physical safety when creating and conducting simulation experiences. Drawing from both experience and evidence base, this paper looks to build safety awareness, and guidance for developing and implementing explicit physical simulation safety protocols & best practices, as well as outline physical simulation safety training to prevent adverse events during simulation activities. We believe that prevention is better than a cure.