Photo courtesy of METI.
The Center for Medical Education and Innovation uses four adult patient simulators, one pediatric version and one of the first infant patient simulators in the world in place of learning with real patients.
Each patient simulator is computer controlled and can be programmed to react in very human ways, with more than 72,000 combinations of physiologic responses. Medical devices can be attached to the simulators to train medical professionals in the proper implementation and use of certain medical equipment and drugs.
The simulators are so life-like that they breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. They:
- reproduce breath and heart sounds, pulse readings, drug reactions, as well as thousands of other physiologic reactions
- speak, blink eyes and emit other reflexive and non-reflexive reactions
- exhibit vital parameters (ECG, heart rate, blood pressure, oxyhemoglobin saturation) shown on the patient monitor
- represent a wide range of patient configurations male or female, young to elderly, healthy to diseased
- receive and react to medical procedures, such as chest tube placement and central line insertion, pericardiocentesis, needle compression and diagnostic peritoneal lavage
Life-like configured rooms
CME+I virtual hospital rooms are configured specifically to support and interface with the patient simulators. They include an operating room, an intensive care unit, a trauma suite and a patient room.
There is also a control room for the patient simulation technicians, as well as teaching personnel, who can communicate with the learners and monitor and control the patient simulators. During these teaching sessions, all activities are recorded and stored using microphones, cameras and AV feeds.
As the patient simulators are "driven" through various levels of care, they can be moved between rooms, as in a life-like situation, from trauma to operating room, from operating room to intensive care unit.
The Center's virtual hospital rooms are also provided with movable walls. These allow for the reconfiguration of the teaching environment based on the needs of the situation being taught. For example, the walls between the rooms can rise into the ceiling, allowing the environment to be used as one large emergency department for triage of mass casualties and/or to practice disaster preparedness.
Debriefing rooms are also provided for preparation before and/or review after the simulation exercises.