With the click of a mouse, Debbie Smith could make the baby have a seizure, have trouble breathing or turn blue.
Smith, nursery and neonatal intensive care unit charge nurse at The Medical Center, was demonstrating the hospital’s new Gaumard “Newborn HAL” simulator.
“It’s like a baby doll that has a computer programmed inside it. We can program scenarios,” she said. “We can make the heart beat faster or slower. It has the ability to turn blue, and that signals to the staff to treat it as if the baby’s color is blue. We can practice positive pressure breathing. If it’s done too vigorously it can pop a hole in the lungs.”
The simulator, which helps staff learn how to handle high-risk clinical emergencies in a risk-free environment, also “breathes,” kicks and cries. It can be a boy or a girl. Employees can practice routine skills, such as starting IVs and catherization. The Medical Center is nearly finished training various staff, including labor and delivery and NICU nurses and respiratory therapists, according to obstetrics clinical manager Amber Herman.
“Ten percent of babies born here will need a little assistance. This gives the staff the ability to approach the baby. Not everything is cut and dry,” she said. “It can help work out some of the kinks in their training and react appropriately. There has been a lot of positive feedback. This shows the value we all hold in their professional growth.”
Smith agreed. The staff who have trained seemed to respond to the simulator as they would in a real-life situation.
“In the past, we had a baby doll to do those skills, but we have to tell them (the scenarios),” she said. “It didn’t seem that real.”
There are also trainings with the emergency room staff at the other facilities of Commonwealth Health Corp., the parent company of The Medical Center, Herman said.
“They may end up delivering in those ERs,” she said. “They can practice on the simulator.”
The simulator is used with initial employee orientation in the NICU, ongoing competency assessment and continuing education for medical personnel. Doctors have shown an interest in it. Paramedics may also train with the simulator and have it tailored to situations they may face in their environment, Smith said.
“We can customize it to individuals. With paramedics, their work is in the field whereas we have this equipment (at the hospital), so we practice with the equipment,” Smith said. “It fosters a community between the disciplines.”
The newborn simulator was purchased in part by a $14,500 grant from WHAS Crusade for Children. The total cost was $22,500. The Crusade for Children website at www.whascrusade.org says the grants are made to nonprofit agencies, schools and hospitals that help children with special needs up to age 18. The term “special needs” is defined as physical, mental, emotional and medical needs.
“We’re very grateful for Crusade for Children,” Smith said.
The “Newborn HAL” will help the hospital give better service to southcentral Kentucky, Smith said.
“Our community will see the benefits of it over time,” she said. “I think it’ll get better and better.”
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