Chico's Technological Marvel
02/09/11 09:28
I had the great privilege Tuesday night of helping demonstrate something truly amazing for several of my fellow pediatricians and obstetricians from Enloe Hosptital. That is the North State’s new state of the art training simulation center.
A joint project between Enloe Hospital, Feather RIver Hospital and Chico State’s Nursing program, the Rural Northern California Clinical Simulation Center it is only one of 4 such simulation centers in California. In fact, it is one of only 7 facilities in the world, yes, I said world, to be certified by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
The simulation center is a place where medical personnel - physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, flight care, etc. can practice very realistic emergency scenarios in real time. This allows them to fine tune treatment, teamwork and timing to be better able to handle similar emergencies when they occur in the hospital.
The technology for this is almost unbelievable. There are a number of high tech mannequins ranging from the size of a premature baby all the way up to a full grown adult. Several of them are even wireless with built in electronics and air compressors. The baby mannequin I used for the demo last night breathed, cried, could become jittery, had an audible heart beat, had several pulses throughout the body, could have external monitors put on, IV’s put in and even had blue lights under the skin of the face to mimic low blood oxygen. One of the mannequins even has eyes that open and close and reactive pupils. Several of the mannequins can be programed to speak specific phrases. The mannequin of the mother in labor had separate monitors for both the mother and baby.
These mannequins can be programmed to go through any number of complex reactions including responding to mock medications administered or other interventions. The Enloe Pediatric and OB departments are planning on taking advantage of the facility to better patient care in labor and delivery and post-partum areas.
To send a team for training in a facility like this normally costs several thousand dollars. We are truly blessed to have such a facility available for to us for free here in Chico. I hope the medical communities of Chico, Paradise and all of the surrounding areas take advantage of this marvel!
A joint project between Enloe Hospital, Feather RIver Hospital and Chico State’s Nursing program, the Rural Northern California Clinical Simulation Center it is only one of 4 such simulation centers in California. In fact, it is one of only 7 facilities in the world, yes, I said world, to be certified by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
The simulation center is a place where medical personnel - physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, flight care, etc. can practice very realistic emergency scenarios in real time. This allows them to fine tune treatment, teamwork and timing to be better able to handle similar emergencies when they occur in the hospital.
The technology for this is almost unbelievable. There are a number of high tech mannequins ranging from the size of a premature baby all the way up to a full grown adult. Several of them are even wireless with built in electronics and air compressors. The baby mannequin I used for the demo last night breathed, cried, could become jittery, had an audible heart beat, had several pulses throughout the body, could have external monitors put on, IV’s put in and even had blue lights under the skin of the face to mimic low blood oxygen. One of the mannequins even has eyes that open and close and reactive pupils. Several of the mannequins can be programed to speak specific phrases. The mannequin of the mother in labor had separate monitors for both the mother and baby.
These mannequins can be programmed to go through any number of complex reactions including responding to mock medications administered or other interventions. The Enloe Pediatric and OB departments are planning on taking advantage of the facility to better patient care in labor and delivery and post-partum areas.
To send a team for training in a facility like this normally costs several thousand dollars. We are truly blessed to have such a facility available for to us for free here in Chico. I hope the medical communities of Chico, Paradise and all of the surrounding areas take advantage of this marvel!
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