Within the framework of the celebration of the 8th EuroELSO Congress, on April 9 and 10, Vall d'Hebron hosted two days of training courses in ECMO, an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation technique, in which it was used for the first time in the Hospital a simulator developed by the center itself in collaboration with the company Medical Simulator.The ECMO Hybrids VITA simulator is the result of an agreement that established the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) with the company Medical Simulator and has been developed under the scientific leadership of Dr. Jordi Riera, specialist in intensive medicine at Hospital Vall d'Hebron, principal investigator of the http://en.vhir.org/portal1/grup-equip.asp?t=shock-organ-dysfunction-and-resuscitation&s=recerca&contentid=187164 Shock, Organ Dysfunction and Resuscitation group at VHIR and international benchmark at ECMO.In that way, Dr. Riera comments that "the support with ECMO of the critical patient is associated with a high complexity and a high risk of complications.The concentration of cases in the same unit is a necessary condition to optimize the safety in the assistance of the patient, as well as an adequate training of the ECMO team is essential The high fidelity simulation is the best way of acquisition and maintenance of competences ".As Guillermo and álvaro Closas of Medical Simulator say, it is an integral solution to launch an ECMO training program based on simulation, designed and based on ELSO recommendations and following the international standards of clinical simulation companies. The solution Hybrids VITA incorporates a complete module of scenarios both for training in workshops and for its use within a clinical simulation environment integrating physically and functionally with patient simulators.The simulator is still in the pilot phase, but it is fully functional and has been put into practice for two days in the workshops that have been held both in the VHIR animal facility and in the recently inaugurated new simulation area of Vall d'Hebron. These courses have been attended by more than 40 professionals from around the world divided into different groups. During the EuroELSO congress that will be held from 10 to 13 April in Barcelona, the official presentation of the simulator will be made. The next time it is used, it will be June in the framework of the National Congress of the SEMICYUC (Spanish Society of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine and Coronary Units)."The development of this simulator has been carried out through a close collaboration between engineers and clinicians," says Dr. Riera. In his opinion, "this collaboration between disciplines is essential for obtaining solutions that ultimately have an impact on the evolution of our patients, which in the end is our fundamental objective". The investment in innovation finally has a positive effect on the system.Vall d'Hebron, a benchmark in simulationIn this way Vall d'Hebron is consolidated as a benchmark in the training of professionals through simulation. "It was precisely with this objective that the new simulation area was born, with the aim of being a simulation center of high complexity and a benchmark, just as the Hospital already is," explains Dr. Mónica Rodríguez, Deputy Director of Teaching, Chief of Studies and President of the Teaching Commission of the Vall d'Hebron."One of the pillars of our project is to develop new tools to simulate, that is, to disseminate knowledge and innovate," adds Dr. Rodríguez. "And who can best develop these tools are the professionals themselves for their level of excellence and because they are the ones who teach the simulation courses," says Montse Juárez, coordinator of Aula Vall d'Hebron. So much so that we are working on developing new simulators, such as ECOMEDPAD, to teach how to make punctures under ultrasound control safely. "From the Teaching Management of Vall d'Hebron we want to promote safety and the best tool to improve safety and quality of care in the world of health is simulation," emphasize Dr. Rodriguez."This philosophy of working to achieve excellence by introducing innovation and research as main axes differentiates the Campus Vall d'Hebron from other simulation centers", highlights Anna Riera, head of the Innovation Unit of VHIR. In the same way, "it is also a challenge to be able to obtain income derived from the innovative activity to reinvest them in the same system and that in the end will translate into better attention to people," he concludes.