Our Milestones

1995

Lou Halamek, M.D., begins working with David Gaba, M.D., Steve Howard, M.D., Brian Smith, M.D., and Yasser Sowb, Ph.D. at the Veteran’s Affairs Palo Alto to develop the world’s first comprehensive pediatric simulation-based training program.

1997

NeoSim®, a simulation-based training program in neonatal resuscitation, is launched.

1997

David Kaegi, M.D., becomes the first CAPE Postdoctoral Research Fellow.  JoDee Anderson, M.D., Allison Murphy, M.D., Swati Agarwal, M.D., Anand Rajani, M.D., Ritu Chitkara, M.D., Katharine Brock, M.D., Nicole Yamada, M.D., and Janene Fuerch, M.D., eventually follow in Dr. Kaegi’s footsteps.

1999

Dr. Halamek is interviewed about the Simulated Delivery Room Training Program by Peter Jennings on the ABC Evening News.


2000

The first peer-reviewed manuscript describing comprehensive pediatric simulation-based training, “Time for a new paradigm in pediatric medical education:  Teaching neonatal resuscitation in a simulated delivery room environment” is published in Pediatrics by Halamek et al.

2001

Dr. Halamek works with Advanced Medical Simulation to develop and field test new technologies for use in simulation-based learning.  These devices include an interface to control bedside monitor data streams (Patient Monitor Driver®) and a fetal monitor simulator (FetalSim®).

2001

CAPE is granted a three-year award of $1.1 million from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality to develop and validate simulation-based methodologies.

2002

CAPE is founded through a generous gift from an anonymous community donor.  

2003

The inaugural CAPE Simulation Instructor Program is launched, setting the world’s standard for instructor training in pediatric and obstetric simulation.  A large number of pediatric and obstetric simulation leaders and instructors around the U.S. and the world have received instruction at CAPE and are now replicating CAPE programs at their home institutions.

2003

OB Sim®, a simulation-based training program in neonatal obstetric emergencies, is launched by Steve Lipman, M.D., Kay Daniels, M.D., and Maurice Druzin, M.D.

2003

CAPE establishes ECMOSim as the world's first simulation-based training program in extracorporeal life support.

2004

CAPE and Laerdal Medical, Inc., begin a long-term collaboration to develop and test a number of neonatal, infant, pediatric and obstetric patient simulators.

2005

CAPE establishes a longstanding partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  CAPE’s NeoSim® program serves as the basis for the new simulation-based version of the AAP’s Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), the national standard of care for newborns in the U.S.  CAPE and the AAP co-develop a number of novel training resources including the NRP Ethical Decision Making DVD, Cases in Neonatology DVD, and the NRP Textbook on DVD.

2008

Dr. Halamek delivers the keynote address at the First International Pediatric Simulation Symposium and Workshops in Stockholm, Sweden:  “The Challenges and Opportunities in Pediatric and Obstetric Simulation”.

2009

Obstetric Life Support (OBLS), a combination of three existing life support programs, including Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS) and NRP, is launched. 

2010

CAPE is the originator of the Packard Circle of Safety, the process that defines how simulation is integrated into the daily activities of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital to improve patient safety.

2011

Dr. Halamek makes his initial visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, with the support of a grant from the Center for Aviation Safety Research, Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, St. Louis University.  This establishes an ongoing collaboration between his team at CAPE and the aerospace professionals at JSC, leading to an increasingly sophisticated approach to scenario design and debriefing.

2011

CAPE continues its relationship with the AAP to co-develop the 2011 NRP Instructor DVD:  An Interactive Tool for Facilitation of Simulation-based Learning, the 2011 NRP Instructor Manual, and a Key Behavioral Skills Wall Chart for display in delivery rooms across the U.S.  

2012

CAPE is enshrined with a granite plaque on the Stanford University School of Medicine History Walk.

2014

Director Lou Halamek authors "Mission: Control" in Children's Hospital Today, published by the Children's Hospital Association. On a quest to improve safety and efficiency, this article describes how Stanford Medicine is taking a cue from NASA’s Mission Control and developing a hospital operations center.

2014

Stanford Medicine wins a four-year award of $4 million from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality to optimize the safety of mother and neonate in a mixed learning laboratory.  CAPE will serve as the primary research site.

CAPE opens its doors in 2002.


NeoSim trainees practice intubation.


Dr. Lou Halamek authored a Key Behavioral Skills wall chart


NRP Instructor DVD is filmed at CAPE


World Map shows presence of CAPE


Mission: Control