Simulation programs are essential to help prepare medical students for the real world, Florida Southwestern State College has acquired a new mannequin to teach how to intubate patients with Down syndrome.
“We have a vast, diverse population of simulators and mannequins at FSW, probably the most diverse in southwest Florida, all the way up to Tampa and down to Miami,” FSW Director for Health Care in Training and Simulation Experience Jessica Golda said.
These life-like mannequins act the same way a patient receiving treatment would.
“We have infants that can cry and grimace and move all of their extremities to simple mannequins that are just meant for, listening to heart tones and lung sounds,” she said.
With a simple touch of a button on the instructor's tablet, Golda and her team create a simulation for their students.
This center mimics a hospital wing. In each room, there is a different mannequin with a different condition.
These lifelike mannequins represent all ages and they are made out of gummy silicone that acts like skin. Not only do they simulate physical symptoms but they respond to treatment.
“I do think that it amply prepares for a clinical setting, but it also allows for a safe space for students to grow so they can see things in a clinical setting and take it back here,” Golda said. “We can work through the problems and then that makes them a better clinician out in the public.
FSW’s simulation program supplements degree programs for nursing, EMS, EMT, paramedics, and respiratory care.
The newest addition to their program is Gwen. She was built from 3D imaging from an MRI of a real-life 7-year-old named Gwen with Down syndrome.
She is also the first mannequin of her kind in SWFL.
“Her proponents and her anatomical structure are built very similar to the real-life Gwen,” she said. “So, even her to her eye color, her hair color, even her anatomical scars. She is meant to be a lifelike, almost suspension-of-belief version of a Down syndrome patient. The reason we have her and acquired her is that we have a community of pediatric patients, and, who have some genetic disorders and that have long-term illnesses.”
One of the new lessons Golda wants her students to learn is how to intubate patients with Down syndrome. She said the process is a bit different.
“She has a larger tongue, a large palate, more interior as far as her trachea, so sometimes that can make it difficult,” she said. “Can make it difficult, to intubate. But today I'm going to show you how we do this for our respiratory therapists so that they can get the opportunity to see that difficult airway.”
She hopes Gwen can teach students outside of the classroom as well.
“I look forward to what she can provide in community outreach,” she said. “So it's an opportunity for those who are already established in licensed care to come and get an opportunity to work with her and see what you can, see how we can treat patients better.”
FSW looks to expand its simulation resources to educate students on emerging medical challenges and technologies.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has said there is a shortage of registered nurses and they expect that to intensify as baby boomers retire.
FSW hopes their supplemental resources and vast simulation training will intrigue more to join their program and nursing schools across SWFL.
“I received an email from a student, last semester who we had, improved our, simulation program from nursing, and she had emailed me personally after graduation and she had said, thank you for bringing in this way of simulation and how we're doing things,” Golda said. “It really prepared me.”