ABSTRACT BACKGROUND:

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has imposed a new reality that presents several challenges for healthcare professionals. The main challenge has been the lack of proper training in relation to an unknown disease.

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate healthcare professionals' acquisition of knowledge of a new airway management protocol for COVID-19 through their participation in simulation training.

DESIGN AND SETTING:

Pre and post-test study with purpose sampling, carried out in a tertiary-level hospital in the city of Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

METHODS:

This was a cross-sectional pre and post-test intervention among healthcare professionals working in the intensive care unit and emergency department of a large hospital. The training was carried out using an in situ simulation scenario and the participants answered pre and post-tests consisting of a 20-item questionnaire about the new protocol.

RESULTS:

The paired-sample t test demonstrated that there was a significant increase in test score (t = −19.06; P < 0.001), from before the training (M = 8.62; standard deviation, SD = 3.53) to after the simulation training (M = 17.02; SD = 1.76).

CONCLUSIONS:

The simulated training had a positive impact on the healthcare professionals' acquisition of the COVID-19 protocol. We also demonstrated that in situ simulation training was an efficient tool for implementing new protocols, thus bringing benefits to healthcare systems, professionals and patients.