Students learn from a dummy: Fake patient simulates real-world experience

By Kyra Low • February 17, 2009 1:34 pm
Oksana Buchholz inserts a chest tube to help SimMan breathe during an exercise at Highline Community College.
Oksana Buchholz inserts a chest tube to help SimMan breathe during an exercise at Highline Community College.

He’s hooked up to IVs, monitors and has a chest tube.

His vitals are failing, but the students in Highline Community College’s respiratory care program aren’t letting him go without a fight.

Lucky for them, SimMan can’t die.

SimMan is a new tool for Highline students in the respiratory care program, which trains students to care for patients with breathing problems, usually in emergencies.

The lifelike dummy actually pumps a blood-like liquid through his veins, allowing students to take a pulse and draw blood. SimMan also breathes out carbon dioxide, has cardiac rhythms and talks.

“They can practice it here before they go on to their clinical,” instructor Nicki Bly said. “They have to make decisions as things are happening and change what they are doing.”

The newest tool in learning arrived courtesy of a state grant, which covered the $60,000 SimMan.

“It’s expensive technology, but it does a lot of great stuff,” Bly said.

SimMan’s vitals will respond to what the students do to him. If students don’t insert the chest tube correctly, for example, SimMan’s stomach will inflate rather than breathing back carbon dioxide. SimMan can tell if cardiac compressions are done correctly and won’t respond if they are done incorrectly. If it takes too long for oxygen to be given to SimMan, his vitals deteriorate. However, a lot of the actions that SimMan does or says are controlled by an instructor on a computer.

SimMan also records what the students do to him. He also videotapes students for review after the simulated high-stress situation is over.

The dummy is used in medical schools for students to practice. The human simulator was also featured on a recent episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

There are about 50 students currently in the Highline program. Students use SimMan in all seven quarters of instruction, beginning with basic bedside manner to patients with poor English skills, to running Advanced Cardiac Life Support codes, putting in chest tubes and using mechanical ventilation.

Check it out

The students will hold a public event to show off all that SimMan can do. The event runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 20 at Highline Community College, 2400 S. 240th St., Des Moines. During that time students will run scenarios and try and save SimMan’s “life.”