COPD exacerbation
Educational use only. Not clinically reviewed67-year-old man for Emergency assessment and initial response to a COPD exacerbation. About 10 simulated minutes.
What you will practise
- Assess exacerbation severity and immediate mimics from symptoms, signs, oxygenation, and one authored blood gas.
- Titrate oxygen to the fixed 88-92% target and retain a plan to review carbon dioxide and pH.
- Pair initial short-acting bronchodilation with a short systemic-corticosteroid course.
- Use the authored purulent sputum finding to record an antibiotic indication without inventing a prescription.
- Reassess symptoms, signs, oxygenation, and blood gas before deciding whether ventilatory escalation is needed.
Review and sources
Not clinically reviewed. No clinician has signed this scenario.
- Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. Global Strategy for Prevention, Diagnosis and Management of COPD: 2026 Report. Version 1.3; Chapter 4, Figures 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, and 4.6; pp. 93-108.
Open Sim Lab is an educational simulator, not for clinical use. It is not a clinical decision-support tool, not a dosing calculator, and is not validated for any decision affecting a real patient.