Montreal doctors develop a virtual reality tool that could save children's lives

Montreal researchers have developed a virtual reality "emergency room," that can be used to train doctors in Canada and around the world in saving the lives of children who have been badly injured. 

According to the World Health Organization, traumas from accidents like car crashes, falls, and fires are the leading cause of death in children at almost a million per year. 

And that, according to one of the creators of PeTIT VR, short for Pediatric Trauma Innovative Training in VR, is only the tip of the iceberg.

"It means that more than six million children go to the emergency departments every year to have some treatment because of pediatric trauma and these are the countries that report," said Dr. Fabio Botelho, a pediatric and trauma surgeon from Brazil and a research fellow at the Montreal Children's Hospital. 

Better training, he said, can help the chances that a child can survive the accident and heal from their injuries. 

Both Botelho and Dr. Dan Poenaru, the medical director of the trauma program at the Montreal Children's Hospital, developed PeTIT VR in conjunction with UK-based i3 simulations.

Using real-life situations, they created an immersive environment for surgical teams that may not see pediatric trauma very often — like in small or remote hospitals — to hone their skills and work together to improve.

For anyone who is rushed to emergency, every second counts. 

Botehlo calls it the "golden hour," where, if the medical team does everything right, they can offer the patient the best chance of survival. 

However, when a child comes to the hospital with serious injuries, emotions run high among the medical staff and the protocols for pediatric trauma can be different, based on the ages of these patients and their small size.

"The physiological and anatomical landmarks can be tricky for them because in adults, you have the same heart rate, the range, but in kids for two years old, it's different from a five year old, it's different from a teenager," said Botelho.

Doctors in remote regions in Canada and around the world can use PeTIT VR to build their skill sets, both as individuals and as a team. With no expensive medical mannequins or travel required, training can be done anywhere, anytime. 

That, according to Poenaru, is what energizes him the most. "The idea of being able to train all these people, literally in their homes with a $300 headset on their head, that's so exciting," he said. 

Donning headsets and holding controls, Botelho and Poenaru showed CBC News how the system works.