Level Ex, a creator of industry-leading medical video games for physicians, has launched COVID-19 levels within its Airway Ex and Pulm Ex mobile games with support from an educational grant from the Johnson & Johnson Institute. These new game levels help pulmonologists, emergency medicine physicians, anesthesiologists, and other healthcare providers navigate challenging COVID-19 patient scenarios and make better emergency decisions. The levels distill and disseminate the latest actionable COVID-19 information into game content, supplementing traditional educational tools, and allowing players to apply concepts preemptively through experiential, active learning. 

"We have a heritage of supporting third-party institutions and organizations, including medical societies, with educational grants to help advance patient care," said Sandra Humbles, Vice President, Global Education Solutions, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices. "This grant has helped Level Ex accelerate the development of new training in critically important topics through its mobile gaming technology to assist healthcare professionals in their fight against COVID-19." 

Sandra recently spoke with Level Ex CEO Sam Glassenberg about how he got into this field, and how video games can help us fight the pandemic. You can read the full interview here.

Level Ex's COVID-19 levels are based on clinical guidelines, industry recommendations, and insights from physicians on the front lines of the pandemic. Level Ex consulted physicians from pulmonary medicine, critical care, cardiology, anesthesiology, and emergency medicine who are actively treating high volumes of COVID-19 patients, as well as electronically published recommendations from medical societies and public health organizations.

"Healthcare providers across specialties have been mobilizing to assist with the pandemic, and many may not be prepared or have limited critical care experience," explained Eric Gantwerker, M.D., vice president, medical director at Level Ex. "Level Ex's new COVID-19 levels grant physicians access to 'need-to-know' information quickly as they are thrust into new roles. Learning inside of a game means that they can actively engage with the material and commit it to memory."

Level Ex used several sources to create game-based learning opportunities wherein players are timed, scored, and given real-time feedback based on how well their actions adhere to current guidelines. In Pulm Ex's "COVID-19 Diagnosis Unit," players ask questions and run tests based on a virtual patient's chief complaint, then try to determine a correct diagnosis of COVID-19 or a mimicking disease. Airway Ex's "COVID-19 Safe Airway Management Unit" presents virtual intubation scenarios that require players to make clinical decisions about the compromised airways of COVID-19 patients. With each choice, the game explains and reinforces best practices that minimize the risk of spreading the disease. Level Ex will develop more levels addressing COVID-19 treatment, management, and comorbidities, as part of the company's investment in keeping healthcare providers abreast of vital information during the pandemic. 

The COVID-19 levels are available for free through the Airway Ex and Pulm Ex mobile games on Google Play. The levels are coming soon to other platforms. 

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