abcdeSIM: ABCDE games for emergency assessment training

ABCDE stands for Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability and Exposure, the ordered method used to assess a critically unwell or deteriorating patient and to intervene as problems appear. abcdeSIM turns that method into a game. Erasmus University Medical Center, the Technical University of Twente, the interactive media bureau IJsfontein and the Dutch national primary care residency program built it with gaming and simulation technology.

Like other ABCDE games for clinical training, it puts players in a simulated emergency department with virtual patients. A scenario gives them 15 minutes to stabilize a patient whose problem is not announced, as in a real department. They have to follow the ABCDE order to find out what is wrong and which patient needs attention first, using the tools and professionals that would be present in an emergency.

According to the developers, the game does not match clicked options against fixed right or wrong codes. A physiological model with more than 200 parameters for circulation, respiration and consciousness runs underneath, so the heart's pumping, blood volume, blood pressure and the effect of a chosen drug dose all follow from the player's actions.

After each scenario the player receives feedback on what went well and what did not, and must reach a score threshold before the next one opens. The design aim was to let residents practice without a supervising doctor in the room and without risk to a real patient.

The published versions covered emergency physicians, emergency department nursing, pre-hospital primary care, severe burn victims and pediatrics. An obstetrics version was added in February 2017 in Dutch, with translation offered on request.

No standalone abcdeSIM site could be confirmed in November 2026. The Siemens Healthineers Academy lists abcdeSIM as a serious gaming simulation for training doctors and nurses. That page offers a product information request form and no way to start playing. It also states that Siemens Healthineers is not the legal manufacturer of the product and that the product may not be available in every country.

Nothing on that page says the product has been retired, so its status stays unconfirmed. Readers who want to try it have to go through the request form. Other ABCDE games and medical training titles are tracked in the games directory.