Institute for Technical Simulation

The second part of the Simulation Center will be the Institute for Technical Simulation.  Simulation, whether it involves the use of standardized patients or high-fidelity simulation modalities, has emerged as an essential component of all levels of medical education and assessment.  Bringing both simulation-based programs together underscores their common goal of enhancing clinical performance outcomes through student-centered learning exercises.  The ITS will use state of the art equipment to teach and evaluate the procedural skills of a healthcare worker.  All sessions occurring in the center can be viewed, recorded, and replayed for learning purposes. 

At the start, the following items will be included in the simulation center:

1. Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life support (ACLS) with mock codes, e.g. cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, acute stroke, etc.
2. Difficult clinical scenarios, e.g. determining the cause of shock and stabilizing the patient.
3. Managing GI bleeding.
4. Procedural training: IV insertion, arterial/venous draw, central line placement, thoracentesis, lumbar puncture, intubation, chest tube placement, joint aspiration, and intra articular injections.
5. Airway management: airway maneuvers, oxygenation/airway adjuncts, bag valve mask technique.
6. Ventilator education.
7. Ultrasound - Ultrasound is an excellent tool for the management of critically ill patients in the ICU as well as in the ED. It allows quick hemodynamic assessment in unstable patients noninvasively.  It can assess the presence of pericardial effusion and ventricular function.  In addition, it is an evolving tool to improve the physical examination skills (detecting gall stones, estimating the size of the liver, detecting and aspirating joint fluid, etc.). Ultrasound eliminates the use of a “blind” approach to many procedures.

Examples of Patient Simulators: Simulation-based learning helps develop health professionals’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, while protecting patients from unnecessary risks.  It can also be a platform for learning to resolve practical dilemmas.  Simulation-based training serves to mitigate errors and maintain a culture of safety and, for these reasons, is an enormous benefit to any medical institution.