Infant medical training simulator is on wish list
By MITCH MITCHELL
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Like an expectant mother waiting for her delivery date, the Arlington Fire Department has trained its eyes on a brand-new, infant-size patient simulator named SimBaby.
The department has five larger patient simulators - life-size and lifelike computer-controlled mannequins that can be programmed to mimic human responses. But fire administrators want a SimBaby so that department personnel can practice treating 3- to 6-month-old infants.
“The infants are a high-risk, low-frequency call volume,” said Jason Dush, the department’s clinical coordinator. “So when we do get these calls, it’s not the time to be guessing. Having the pediatrics and the infant gives us a lot more proficiency.”
The simulators can retch when they get the wrong medicine, cough when a trainee inadvertently touches the side of an airway or even “die” should a paramedic make a treatment error. The mannequins can also print out a medical student’s grade if desired.
The department has one SimMan and two adult and two child-size VitalSims, which are less-capable versions of the SimMan. A fully equipped SimMan costs about $30,000, as does a fully equipped SimBaby. The VitalSims cost about $5,000 each. Fire Department personnel want a baby simulator with all the options.
Money for a SimBaby would come from existing grant funds, pending City Council approval, Assistant Fire Chief Don Crowson said.
“It’s something we’ll be looking at in the next three months or so,” Crowson said.
If the department purchases a SimBaby, then it will be the first fire department in Texas to have all three generations of the product, said Marion Young, Texas marketing manager for Laerdal, the Norway-based manufacturer. The first SimBaby went into service in February, Young said.
The Fire Department started using the SimMan about two years ago. The patient simulators were acquired via federal grants that enable fire departments to update training procedures, said Battalion Chief Jim Self.
In years past, aspiring paramedics used their classmates when learning to take medical histories and to search for a pulse. But it was not the real thing. Typically, emergency medical responders learned while they were trying to save lives. That scenario changed with the popularization of the patient simulator. Emergency medical instructors began to employ artificial patients to add more realism to their instruction.
“It’s the most realistic training that you can get shy of having a live person,” Dush said.
IN THE KNOW
About the baby simulator
SimBaby utilizes a personal digital device with wireless technology, a webcam for recording scenarios for playback and debriefing, and interchangeable eyes.
The SimBaby system costs $28,980, the same as SimMan.
SimBaby represents a 3- to 6-month-old infant.
Medical personnel use SimBaby to practice blood-pressure measurement, to learn the difference between heart and lung sounds and to work with pulses, palpation, seizure simulation and more.