Focus on patient safety

Simulation training for patient safety
When seconds decide between life and death, every action counts. Emergencies, such as foreign body aspiration in children, require the utmost precision and teamwork. Simulation training on special models offers the opportunity to practise critical situations in a realistic manner, but without risk to patients. The aim is to achieve the highest possible level of safety in clinical care. In addition to practical skills, doctors and nurses also train in areas such as clear communication, teamwork and rapid decision-making, as deficits in these areas can lead to medical incidents.
The Vienna University Simulation Centre – a collaboration between the Vienna Health Association and MedUni Vienna – enables structured training and debriefings, which ensure that learning content is firmly anchored. This guarantees that teams act safely, efficiently and in a patient-oriented manner in an emergency.
At the information stand of the Medical Simulation and Emergency Management Working Group, in which representatives of the University Simulation Center Vienna and the Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Medicine at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna work together, patients and their relatives can gain an insight into the wide range of possibilities offered by simulation training.

Paediatric resuscitation: safety for the little ones
If a child is unconscious and not breathing, quick help can save their life. It is therefore important to know what to do in an emergency and how, as a first responder, to perform chest compressions on the youngest patients before the emergency services arrive. "In order to be able to handle such an emergency situation well and safely, basic knowledge of resuscitation of premature babies is extremely important," says Angelika Berger, head of the Comprehensive Center for Paediatrics.
For medical and nursing teams, regular training in complex emergency situations involving children, newborns and premature babies is crucial in order to be able to take precise medical measures and make time-critical decisions. Training with lifelike child simulators is particularly effective in this regard.  
On International Patient Safety Day, the Paediatric Simulation Team provides an insight into emergency training on the premature infant simulator and provides information on resuscitation measures for children.

Cancer in children and adolescents: working together to recommend safe treatment
Interdisciplinary paediatric tumour boards form the basis for treatment recommendations for cancer in children and adolescents and are key to providing individualised, optimally tailored care for each patient. The knowledge of all disciplines associated with the respective disease is brought to bear. Due to personalised precision medicine, the networking of expertise from different medical disciplines is becoming increasingly important. The advantage of tumour conferences lies in the higher quality of decision-making by an interdisciplinary team of specialists. The Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna plays a pioneering role with its interdisciplinary approach to paediatric patient care and research.
Experts will be available at the information stand to answer questions. The team will also present "iMReady", a project that helps children and young people learn about and understand the planning and procedure of an MRI examination.

Saving lives with blood donations
In order to ensure the safe and effective treatment of patients with blood products such as blood plasma, erythrocyte concentrates or thrombocyte concentrates, many steps must be carried out with the utmost care and quality, from production and testing to the administration of various blood products. At the Department of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy, there are a number of control mechanisms and procedures in place for handling blood products, which ensure that only healthy and compatible donors and safe blood products are used for the treatment of patients ," says Antonia Müller, Head of the Department of Transfusion Medicine and Cell Therapy.
At the information stand, the clinic team will provide information on the safety aspects that come into play behind the scenes when donating and transfusing blood products and how these ensure maximum safety.

Reducing the risks of polypharmacy with medication knowledge
Seven years ago, Austria's first and so far only special outpatient clinic for drug therapy and interactions was established at University Hospital Vienna. An interdisciplinary team of doctors from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and clinical pharmacists from the hospital pharmacy advises patients on all aspects of drug therapy.
"Patients who take several different medications may experience frequent side effects, interactions, reduced adherence or an increased rate of hospitalisation. At the special outpatient clinic for drug therapy and interactions at University Hospital Vienna, these individuals receive advice from experts regarding their medication in order to detect and prevent possible drug-related problems," says Martina Anditsch, head of the hospital pharmacy at University Hospital Vienna.
At the information stand of the special outpatient clinic, the team provides information on aspects of drug therapy safety. An outpatient appointment can be made directly on site.

Clinical social work
At the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna, a holistic approach to the treatment and counselling of families is essential in order to provide good support and care for sick children and adolescents and their relatives. In addition to biological and psychological factors, the social dimension also plays an important role in the treatment concept. That is why a total of eight social workers are available at these clinics to support families through social diagnostics, support and counselling.
At the Clinical Social Work information stand, experts will provide you with information on various support options.

Preventing infections through hand hygiene
Hygienic hand disinfection is the simplest and most effective measure to prevent the transmission of pathogens and thus the occurrence of infections.
"In the healthcare sector, hands are considered the most common carriers of pathogens. Patients and visitors to hospitals can make an important contribution to protecting themselves and others from pathogens and infectious diseases by practising proper hand hygiene," explains Elisabeth Presterl, Head of the Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control at University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna.
On Patient Safety Day, the team at the Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control shows how to disinfect hands correctly.

Information stands for Patient Safety Day: Tuesday, 17 September 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., meeting point hall in the main building of the University Hospital Vienna (Universitätsklinikum AKH Wien), Level 5, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna