Bartlett Regional | House Calls | Summer 2019

4 House Calls Summer 2019 By Katie Bausler, Community Relations Director Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Education Services Department has a new teacher, of sorts. He’s about 6 feet tall and wears stylish grey slacks and a zip-up beige fleece sweater. He’s not Bartlett’s most active staff member—he spends all his time lying on a gurney—but with a little help from Education Services, he manages to travel from department to department. And he’s helping save lives. “He’s a manikin in training,” explains Bartlett Education Director Gail Moorehead. “We can program him to run patient care scenarios in all departments of the hospital.” Through the magic of technology, staff can say through the manikin (who has not been named yet), “My chest hurts” or yell, “I think I am going to throw up.” His chest can move up and down as if he is breathing, and the color and size of his pupils can be adjusted to mimic human responses. Education Services Coordinator Miranda Dumont unzips his torso. “Want to see his internal organs?” she asks. Inside are metal springs, receptors and devices to simulate a human’s responses in a medical emergency. The manikin will travel to various departments to allow nurses and providers to practice patient scenarios on him. Practicing the skills needed in life-threatening situations help them to remain ready for real situations. A new approach to training The days of classes and a certification card that gets renewed every so often are being phased out. In their place: more consistent training to keep lifesaving skills sharp. The “manikin in training” is part of a whole new way of teaching life resuscitation skills from the American Heart Association (AHA). The AHA is switching to RQI, which stands for Resuscitation Quality Improvement. The star of that show is also a manikin, accompanied by a baby manikin. The duo lie on a compact cart that can easily be rolled from department to department for more consistent CPR practice by health care providers. ALWAYS PREPARED The days of classes and a certification card that gets renewed every so often are being phased out. In their place: more consistent training to keep lifesaving skills sharp. The Education Services Department supports all professional training and development at Bartlett. CPR training with a twist Certified Nurse Assistant Max Elliott maintains his CPR skills on a manikin on a mobile cart in the Critical Care Unit. Bartlett Regional Hospital has a new fleet of such carts for the new CPR training program. Health care providers are tested quarterly on their chest compression and other CPR techniques.