Computers inside Sutter Health’s Mobile Simulation Lab allow instructors to monitor and control a patient mannequin during training at Sutter Surgical Hospital North Valley in Yuba City on Sept. 18. Instructors can adjust vital signs and other responses based on actions taken by participating medical staff.

 

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - A 26-year-old man has just undergone surgery when something begins to go seriously wrong.

His body is having a severe reaction to the anesthesia. His vital signs begin to change, his condition deteriorates and the medical team surrounding him has to quickly determine what is happening and how to respond.

Fortunately, this patient can blink, breathe and react to medication, but he cannot actually be harmed.

The patient is a high-fidelity mannequin inside Sutter Health’s roughly 45-foot Mobile Simulation Lab, which visited Sutter Surgical Hospital North Valley in Yuba City on Friday, Sept. 18, giving local medical staff an opportunity to practice responding to emergencies in a realistic but consequence-free environment. Approximately 30 nurses and surgical technologists were expected to participate in training throughout the day, according to Sutter Health.

Sutter Health staff members stand outside the Mobile Simulation Lab at Sutter Surgical Hospital North Valley in Yuba City on Sept. 18. From left are Cory Berthiaume, clinical nurse educator; Rasmeet Singh, simulation operations specialist; Brandon Fisher, simulation manager; Jessica Smith, clinical nurse educator and informaticist; and LaShunda Phillips, interim executive.

During Friday’s sessions, staff were presented with a simulated case involving malignant hyperthermia, a potentially dangerous reaction that can occur following the use of certain anesthetics.

“One of the things I noticed is we’ve come to this site a few times, and we have some repeat partners that want to come back and do it again because they had such a positive experience,” said Brandon Fisher, manager of clinical education, clinical development and simulation. “Today we had like six or seven people that were here last time, and that’s pretty cool.”

Inside the trailer, the training space resembles a hospital room, complete with a patient monitor, medication cart, oxygen, blood pressure equipment, IV fluids and other supplies staff would expect to use during an actual emergency. Behind the scenes, instructors sit inside a control room where they can manipulate the mannequin’s condition in real time.

“Everything that happens with the mannequin is controlled with this computer,” Fisher said. “He blinks, he has chest rise. It’s pretty cool.”

Instructors can communicate with participants through the mannequin and alter its vital signs according to the actions taken by the medical team. If clinicians administer medication, for example, instructors can adjust the mannequin’s heart rate to simulate how a real patient might respond.

“We try to make it as real as possible,” Fisher said.

A high-fidelity patient mannequin sits inside Sutter Health’s Mobile Simulation Lab at Sutter Surgical Hospital North Valley in Yuba City on Sept. 18. The mannequin can simulate breathing, blinking and changing vital signs as medical staff respond to emergency scenarios.

Typically, between three and seven staff members work through a scenario together at one time. In addition to practicing medical procedures, the simulations are intended to strengthen communication, delegation and teamwork during high-pressure situations. Staff can practice skills including CPR, defibrillation and medication administration without placing an actual patient at risk.

“They can practice on a mannequin before they ever touch a human,” Fisher said.

Unlike simulations used in some medical and nursing schools, where students may be tested or graded, Fisher said the mobile lab is designed as a lower-pressure environment for working medical professionals to practice their skills.

“This is practice. We’re not graded,” Fisher told participants. “We support each other and try to have some fun too.”

The mobile simulation lab itself is relatively new. Fisher said the unit was obtained by Sutter at the end of May after being custom-built specifically for the health system. The resulting trailer is 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and 14 feet tall.

Fisher and his team take the mobile lab to hospitals and medical facilities throughout its service area, with an emphasis on communities farther from California’s major metropolitan centers. The program is meant to supplement training already conducted by individual hospitals, some of which may have only one or two educators responsible for training an entire facility.

The Sept. 18 stop marked the mobile unit’s second visit to Sutter Surgical Hospital North Valley. By the time of the late-morning tour, three sessions had already been completed, with additional training planned for later in the day.

Asked how participants had handled the simulated emergency so far, Fisher’s assessment was simple.

“They did fantastic.”