photo by: Photo by Shelley Hanson
Linda Steele, EMS program director for West Virginia Northern Community College, on Wednesday checks out one of the new mobile ambulance simulator mannequins with Nick Cooper, director of education for HealthNet Aeromedical Services, in Wheeling.
By SHELLEY HANSON
Staff Writer
WHEELING — One of West Virginia’s new mobile ambulance simulators — equipped with mannequins that can mimic real-life scenarios of bleeding, seizures, birth and more — will be used to train EMT and paramedic students at West Virginia Northern Community College starting in November.
The training ambulance was previewed Wednesday at WVNCC where future EMT program students will get to use it. The vehicle, one of five in West Virginia, was made possible by federal CARES Act funding. It belongs to HealthNet Aeromedical Services, which pitched the program to the state.
Nick Cooper, director of education for HealthNet Aeromedical Services, said the program came about after Gov. Jim Justice approved spending $3.6 million in Cares Act money for the program.
The goal of the program is to provide access to EMT and paramedic training to those who would not be able to reach it otherwise. Cooper said the program, titled EMS WV Answer the Call, is also meant to help address the shortage of paramedics and emergency medical technicians across the state.
“There are 10 in the country and we have five of them,” he said of the simulators. “It’s cutting edge. We’re on the leading edge of this technology. The governor heard our cries and gave us a lot of money for it.”
The program, which includes ambulances, mannequins, fuel, equipment and warranty insurance, is fully funded for the next five years. The vehicles are being used by community colleges, like WVNCC, across the state.
Cooper said each simulator includes about $200,000 worth of simulation equipment. They were manufactured in Houston, Texas, by Frazer Ambulances. He noted the simulators will not solve the state EMT shortage overnight, but will help begin to address the problem hopefully for the long term.
Linda Steele, EMS program director for WVNCC, is excited about the mobile simulator. She said the college’s EMS program is fairly new and will soon be graduating its first class. The paramedic program takes about 14 months to complete.
The mobile unit will allow more students in rural areas to gain access to the hands-on practice they need.
“I love it. I’m like a kid at Christmas,” Steele said when asked about the new simulator. “It’s just awesome because we have students in Sistersville, Paden City, Hundred, Chester and Newell that, if we don’t bring the education to them, they can’t get here.
“Being able to take this education to them and give them this full simulation effect … is going to be a game changer for us.”
While students are training on the mannequins the instructor can monitor from outside of the vehicle via video cameras set up inside. Microphones can also allow the instructor to speak with the students while inside the ambulance. The video can be played back so the instructor can go over what students did right and wrong afterwards.
The mannequins themselves have pulse points, arm veins that can be used to insert IV lines, a leg that can mimic a fracture and a seizure simulation. The mannequins can also talk, cry or scream. A female mannequin can mimic giving birth to a newborn, giving an EMT practice in delivering a baby before it happens in the field. The mannequins can also mimic urination and students can practice inserting a catheter.
Steele said in addition to students, members of the EMS community can also use it for training such as those working as volunteers at local fire departments.
The simulator will be kept under a roof by the Wheeling Fire Department.
Steele said she is proud of her first class of 13 paramedic program students. The first class will graduate in November. Most were already EMTs.
“The thing about becoming a paramedic is that it opens up so many avenues. Cruise ships hire paramedics, theme parks hire paramedics. There’s a community paramedic program that we’re hoping to offer by next year,” she said.
“Eventually when they have experience they can go on to become a critical care paramedic or flight paramedic. So there’s so many different avenues and so even choose to go on into nursing.”
The mobile simulator vehicle cannot be used to transport actual patients. In addition to Wheeling, the four other simulators are based in Beckley, Charleston, Morgantown and Martinsburg. Cooper noted the state will be sent quarterly reports about how often the simulators are being used.
.