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Saturday, April 21, 2007 Simulated emergencies stimulate learning By MARK I. JOHNSON EDGEWATER — “I am going to be sick,” the patient said.
Suddenly, the sounds of retching fill the small room as emergency medical personal quickly turn their patient on his side to prevent him from choking. They insert a needle in his arm for intravenous fluids, place a stethoscope on his rising and falling chest to monitor respiration and check the blood pressure and pulse. While all the vital signs are there, something is different about this patient. Instead of flesh and blood, he is made of wires and pumps covered by a plastic skin. “This is as close to a live patient as you can get,” said Lt. Jim Hindery with Volusia County Fire Services. “It is awesome to have something like this.” “This is as close to a live patient as you can get. It is awesome to have something like this.”LT. JIM HINDERY Volusia County Fire Services Hindery and his crew from the county’s Bethune Beach/South Beach fire station spent an hour Thursday morning in the Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center’s mobile simulation lab. They were being trained in the treatment of a patient suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus. The lab is a converted recreational vehicle crammed full of interactive mannequins, computers, video equipment and medical supplies, all used to give first-responders realistic training situations. Even after more than three decades in the fire service, Hindery said he was astounded by the sophistication of the simulator. “When I started we were lucky to have a Resuscitation Annie (a mannequin used to teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation),” he said. “Coming to this point is so much better. This is as good as it gets.” Instead of receiving symptoms verbally, the lab’s “patients” actually provide feedback. They can register blood pressure readings as well as generate body sounds and physical responses, such as an infant mannequin that turns blue when it stops breathing. All are controlled by lab manager Karen Crowe with the stroke of a touch pad on a laptop computer. When Hindery’s medics discovered their victim’s breathing had dropped off, they tried to put in a breathing tube. But in a common response to the procedure, he clenched his teeth, making them deal with that problem first. Crowe said ideally the trainees forget they are working on a mannequin and immerse themselves so deeply into the scenario they begin treating the doll like a real person. “That is when I know I have done my job well,” she said. She brought the $1.5-million rolling learning facility to Edgewater this week as part of the nonprofit center’s chemical and biological weapons response exercise. Crowe said the $200,000 program —funded through a grant from the Florida Department of Health —allows rural and small fire departments to take advantage of an educational opportunity that normally would cost about $2,200 per day. “This grant is for 100 days of training,” Crowe said. “So far we have done 20 departments all over the state.” Edgewater Fire Capt. Steve Cousins said his agency had trained in the lab once before and based on that experience he applied for it to return after learning about the grant. “This is several steps above the training aids we currently have,” Cousins said. In addition, it is not costing local taxpayers anything, he said. About 150 emergency medical technicians and paramedics from the county, New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange and Edgewater were run through scenarios during the three-day session that included victims of biological and chemical weapons to a pandemic flu outbreak. Volusia County EMT John Taylor said he was impressed with the abilities of the system. “We get to do things (here) we can’t do with a real patient (during training),” he said, such as injecting intravenous fluids or drugs. |
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