DART Sim vs SimShockPad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DART Sim
This app transforms your iPad into an ECG rhythm generator, defibrillator, and patient monitor simulator. Control vital signs remotely, run pre-set or custom scenarios, and deliver medications for realistic medical training.
- ECG rhythm generator
- Defibrillator simulator
- Patient monitor simulator
- Remote control via iPhone/iPad
- Pre-set and custom scenarios
- Medication delivery
- X-Ray panel
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Turn an iPad into a realistic cardiac monitor and defibrillator for simulation training. DART Sim gives instructors a patient they can control, and gives learners a device that looks, sounds and behaves like the one in the room. WHY INSTRUCTORS CHOOSE DART SIM • Realistic from the first beat. Four waveform lanes with ECG, arterial pressure, pulse oximetry and capnography. Pulse tone that drops in pitch with saturation. Alarms that blink and sound. Values that read "--" until the patient is connected, and go flat when the rhythm is pulseless. • 37 rhythms at your fingertips. From normal sinus to VF, torsades, heart blocks, pacing capture and post-shock conversion. Choose the rhythm the patient converts to after the next shock, or keep them in arrest. • A real defibrillator workflow. Select energy, charge, stand clear, shock. Synchronized cardioversion with sense markers that waits for the R wave. • Transcutaneous pacing you control. Demand pacing with a capture threshold you set: decide the output at which the patient captures, or make them refuse to capture at any output. Learners have to find capture on the ECG, not assume it. • AED mode. Push ANALYZE and the device talks learners through STAND CLEAR, SHOCK ADVISED or NO SHOCK ADVISED, charging, and a CPR interval with metronome, following manufacturer energy protocols. • CPR feedback. Compression rate, chest compression fraction, depth and release, with a code timer that keeps running through pauses so debriefs have numbers to point at. • Three device looks. Keep the classic DART Sim monitor, or switch to a face modelled on the Stryker LIFEPAK 35 or the ZOLL X Series Advanced, each with its own energy ladder, pacing ranges and AED protocol. The patient, scenarios and controls are identical in all three, so one case works for every department. • Teach rhythm interpretation on screen. Tap the ECG for a true-scale paper grid or a printed-strip view, freeze the trace, then measure intervals with on-screen calipers and march lines. BUILT FOR THE CLASSROOM • 122 built-in scenarios covering ACLS, PALS and NRP, each stepping rhythm, vitals, capnogram and chest X-ray on a timer or at the instructor's pace. Change the rhythm by hand at any point and the scenario carries on. Build and save your own in the scenario editor. • Medication log with 38 drugs, routes and doses, plus an automatic code record of every rhythm change, shock, pacing change and NIBP reading for debriefing. Add your own medications or actions. You can also create tabs to organize medications by course. • 12-lead tracings for 26 rhythms, 20 chest X-rays, and your own photos from the camera roll attached to any rhythm. • Instructor controls that stay out of sight. A discreet gear menu, a hardware keyboard shortcut card, and the free DART Sim Remote app so you can run the patient from across the room over Bluetooth. • Built-in User Manual and keyboard shortcut card that you can read in the app, print, or share. • Works on any iPad from the 10.2-inch to the 13-inch Pro, in landscape, with no account, no subscription and no internet connection required. DART Sim is used by fire departments, EMS agencies, nursing programs and hospital education teams to run codes without a $20,000 simulator. One iPad, one app, every rhythm. FOR TRAINING AND EDUCATION ONLY. DART Sim is a simulator, not a medical device. It does not measure anything from a real person and must not be used for clinical diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of patients. LIFEPAK is a trademark of Stryker. ZOLL and X Series are trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation. DART Sim is not affiliated with or endorsed by either company.
SimShockPad
This interactive simulator trains users to manage critical hemodynamic situations like heart failure, bleeding, and septic shock. Make rapid, accurate decisions under pressure using a variety of therapies and advanced treatments to keep patients alive.
- Three pathological modes (heart failure, bleeding, sepsis)
- Seven combinable therapies with dose-dependent effects
- Advanced treatments for specific conditions
- Multiparameter real-time monitoring
- Adjustable difficulty and game speed
- Multilingual interface
- Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and macOS
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SimShock is a hemodynamic simulation game. It is not a teaching or instructional tool, nor is it a clinical simulator. Think of it as a home flight simulator: true to the spirit, carefully made, but still a game. One critically ill patient, vital signs changing in real time, and very little room for error. The patient may arrive with heart failure, massive hemorrhage, septic shock or an arrhythmia. Each condition behaves differently, and what saves one patient can sink another. NEW HEMODYNAMIC ENGINE A new model links heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and vascular resistance to filling pressures. The baroreflex has two arms and can become exhausted, each patient has an individual sensitivity to each drug, and infusions have a therapeutic window: inside it they do their job; outside it, they do something else. No drug has a hard ceiling — if you overdo it, you will see the consequences. Real physiology is far more complicated. Many rules have been deliberately simplified to make the game playable. THE THREE SCREENS · Monitor — real-time ECG and pulse waveform, with systolic pressure, heart rate and venous pressure shown in traffic-light colors. Ventricular and supraventricular arrhythmias may develop spontaneously during a case. · Hemodynamics — cardiac output, cardiac index, vascular resistance, capillary and pulmonary pressures, stroke volume, blood volume and ventricular work, displayed as either values or a profile. · Trends — 1-, 5- and 10-minute evolution with an event log: this is where you can see exactly where the game went wrong. ACTION BUTTONS · Norepinephrine — at high doses, increased resistance chokes the ventricle: capillary pressure rises and cardiac output falls. · Dobutamine — increases cardiac output without increasing blood pressure. At high doses: tachycardia and hypotension. · Dopamine — above 20 µg/kg/min it irritates the ventricle: ectopic beats after ten seconds, ventricular tachycardia after twenty-five. · Nitroglycerin — unloads the lungs quickly, and can take the blood pressure down with it if the patient has little to spare. · Furosemide — makes a difference in the fluid-overloaded patient, not in the dry one, no matter how high you turn it up. · Saline and transfusion — finite bags: every milliliter counts. · Antibiotics — three regimens and one source of infection. Only the regimen that covers it works, and the infection itself must be controlled (Infection Control button). · Antiarrhythmics — adenosine, diltiazem, esmolol, propranolol, procainamide and amiodarone. · Defibrillator, non-invasive ventilation and transfer to intensive care. · Transfusion — transfusing alone is not enough: the bleeding must also be controlled (Bleeding Control button). THE CONTROLS · Notes — the assistant tells you what the patient still needs to become stable. · The doctor — tap to switch between a male and female doctor. If things go wrong, the expression changes. · Events — a log of what you did and when. · Pause — freezes time. Speed makes it run faster or slower. · Difficulty — changes how the patient evolves, not the reference ranges. · Arrhythmias — from off to a randomized 30% probability, or automatic according to difficulty. · Patient — variable or standard. Switch it off if you want reproducible games. · Random — hides the condition name and switches off the traffic lights: you have to read the numbers. · Exam — ten consecutive cases with scoring. · Cockpit — switches between the classic interface and the command-station view without losing the current game. · Language, Instructions and volume from 0 to 100 next to the clock, with a separate mute control. NOTICE SimShock is a game that represents pathophysiological situations in a simplified way. It is not an educational tool or a clinical guide, and it does not provide medical advice or recommendations. Always consult healthcare professionals.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SimShockPad at Free against DART Sim's $249.99. SimShockPad also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). DART Sim's advantage is rating (2.7 vs 1.0) and review sentiment (28% vs 0%). On ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
SimShockPad is free to download; DART Sim costs $249.99 up front. DART Sim sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. SimShockPad asks for nothing beyond the download.
DART Sim holds the better App Store score, 2.7 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DART Sim has 29 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 28% of DART Sim's written reviews are positive against 0% of SimShockPad's.
DART Sim ships an update every 5 weeks, SimShockPad weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DART Sim | SimShockPad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $249.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.7 (29 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 27.7% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 29 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 136 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | STAR CPR San Diego | Pablo Kessler Saiz |
Customer experience
DART Sim
SimShockPad
In-app purchases
DART Sim
- 12Lead- View all 25 rhythms in 12Lead$17.99
- X-Ray$17.99
- Deliver medications & CodeTrack student performance$17.99
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- 33 Scenarios & Create your own scenarios!$19.99
- Connect your iPhone/iPad to DART Sim via Bluetooth$19.99
SimShockPad
No in-app purchases









