Yongin Severance Hospital develops digital twin platform for disaster training

Researchers at Yongin Severance Hospital have developed a digital twin-based platform to conduct virtual disaster response training. The system creates a virtual replica of the hospital, including 317 clinical spaces and 6 entrances, to simulate scenarios such as total hospital information system (HIS) failures.

In a simulation conducted in July 2024, the team tested a ‘Code White Stage 1’ scenario where electronic medical records (EMR) and order communication systems (OCS) were unavailable. The training involved 60 staff members across seven different professional roles, including doctors, nurses, and administrative personnel. The virtual environment accounted for patient movement speeds based on age and severity, as well as realistic hospital navigation.

The results, published in the journal ‘JMIR Formative Research’, showed that the digital twin platform significantly improved efficiency. Compared to field training conducted in 2023, the virtual simulation reduced training time by approximately 70 minutes and decreased the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) resource consumption by about 47%. The hospital plans to expand the use of this platform to include other disaster scenarios, such as radiation exposure accidents.