PACMaC (Paediatric Anaesthesia Crisis Management Course) was developed by Dr Indu Kapoor, Anaesthetist, and Peter Watts, Simulation Engineer, in 2016. The course has been running at the Wellington Hospital Simulation Centre since August 2016 and has been supported by anaesthesia faculty from across Aotearoa, New Zealand. This diverse faculty have contributed towards keeping the course contemporary and relevant for anaesthetists. 

In 2018, Dr Allanah Scott, an instructor on PACMaC, requested if the course could be run in-situ at a hospital in a provincial town. The hospital was planning to increase its paediatric caseload and it was thought that the staff would benefit from in-theatre team training in paediatric anaesthesia crisis management. With support and guidance from Dr Scott, the first in-situ PACMaC was run at this provincial hospital using all resources (including high-fidelity mannequins) from Wellington Simulation Centre. Since then, on request from other hospitals similarly planning to increase their paediatric caseload or wanting to up-skill their perioperative paediatric teams, Drs Kapoor and Scott, with support from Peter Watts and the Wellington Hospital Simulation Centre, have been running in-situ PACMaC courses. 

In 2021, members of paediatric anaesthesia network of New Zealand (PANNZ) suggested creating a national in-situ paediatric resuscitation program. It was decided that the PACMaC program, having been tested in the in-situ environment could be expanded. Dr Indu Kapoor and Peter Watts were happy to share the PACMaC IP with PANNZ with the view to facilitate education of perioperative teams providing anaesthesia care to children across Aotearoa, New Zealand. Dr Caroline Zhou (PANNZ Chair and PACMaC instructor) and Dr David Linscott (SPANZA representative on PANNZ) then took the proposal to the SPANZA executive. With support from Drs Linscott and Lane (SPANZA), Dr Zhou (PANNZ) and Drs Kapoor and Scott, the IS PACMaC program was finalised in August 2023.

The first IS PACMaC course was run at a provincial public hospital in November 2023. Since then multiple courses have been delivered across Aotearoa, New Zealand, both in private and public hospitals (ref map on home page). SPANZA has supported IS PACMaC from its inception, funding the purchase of essential hardware, software, and other resources required for course delivery. The SPANZA secretariat oversees administration and finances. An IS PACMaC committee provides governance. The Wellington Hospital Simulation Centre continues to support the program by storing, servicing, and managing the training equipment. Peter Watts remains closely involved, contributing to both the delivery and ongoing development of the program.

Anonymous feedback collected after each course has underscored the value of multidisciplinary team training in the ‘home’ clinical environment. This has been especially meaningful for nursing staff and anaesthesia assistants, who often have limited opportunities to train alongside anaesthetists in their usual work settings. PACMaC remains the intellectual property of Dr Indu Kapoor and Peter Watts, who continue to provide this education to all non-medical staff free of  charge.