SimMan training aid enhances reserve medical readiness

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Kim Howerton
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 507th Air Refueling Wing Medical Squadron has a new life-like simulator to incorporate real-life training scenarios into drill weekends.

The SimMan 3G, nicknamed Seth by the medical personnel, provides team members with a variety of interactive scenarios in medical readiness training both for the hospital and field.

"Seth allows my medics to interact in realistic training scenarios similar to an active theatre, while also learning to work together as a dynamic team," said Maj. Kimberly Morgan, 507th Air Refueling Wing officer in charge of education and training.

She is pleased to have the patient simulator for training. "It's a brains-on, hands-on training, which allows each team member to lead and/or follow during patient treatment in a very realistic way." The major said many people think the members of the 507th MDS are only there to provide physical health assessments but "citizen Airmen, must be ready to deploy when called upon and this allows us to train like you mean it."

The simulator reacts to the treatments of the medical team while care is administered providing a real world environment, Morgan explained.

The trainer is in a separate room from the medical team. As they work on the patient simulator, the trainer becomes the patient's voice and body systems, altering the simulator based on the medical team's responses. The trainer utilizes options to program their own scenario into the simulator, using something pre-programmed or creating the scenario as the training occurs. Once the trainees correct the medical problem, another one arises, Morgan said.

In one training simulation, the simulator begins vomiting making noises similar to a live person. The trainees need to figure out the steps to take with the patient.

"It's realistic since it takes two people to move the patient simulator just as it would to move a real person who is incapacitated," she said.

The patient simulator training includes Basic Life Support, CPR features with feedback, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, and Advanced Trauma Life Support. It also gives feedback about the quality of the CPR being provided. The feedback includes the compression rate, depth, release and hands-off time for the member providing CPR. It provides the trainee with the ability to check the pulse and other vital signs.

The patient simulator holds approximately one and half liters of reusable fluid. This is important when the trainer is simulating an arterial bleed. It realistically squirts blood until the team controls the bleeding and gives a "flash" of blood when a team member starts an IV to let them know they are in the vein.

Adjustable pupil reaction allows for trainees to check the eyes for signs of various medical emergencies by providing responses to light, blinking at varying speeds, asymmetry and secretions. Morgan said the eyes secrete liquids to simulate reactions mimicking exposures to various agents including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents.

Morgan said, "Seth is user-friendly, interactive and very realistic allowing for multi-level training to include more combat realistic training."

Seth will be implemented as soon as all the trainers from the 507th are fully trained. Maj. Morgan looks forward to interacting with the Army and Navy who utilize Seth in their training to further the medical team's experiences.