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Thursday, August 12, 2004
Students get real-world practice
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||
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Also on this page: TODD DADALEARES | |||||||||
Q: What exactly do you do? A: Dadaleares: When we have classes going on, I help facilitate everything that's going on between an instructor and the students. The (medical) scenario is run from another room, a control room, behind a one-way mirror. I make sure the equipment is doing what we want it to do, and also, quietly, keep instructor and students in a timeline, sort of subtly help things along. The teachers are basically new at this as well, so part of the job is to make things run as smoothly as possible. I have to work out the basic technical stuff, but there are also social skills involved, for sure. Toney: They are pretty sophisticated simulators. They are adult-size mannequins that have a significant amount of both hardware and software so we can simulate different normal functions of the human body, and we can create certain diseases or traumas that the students have to deal with - a very real-time perspective. We can basically simulate many types of diseases or disorders, such as pulmonary or heart problems. We can simulate various kinds of trauma situations, attach appendages to simulate an auto accident, even simulate a bioterrorist attack, by changing parts or manipulating the software program. The two (simulators) are pretty similar, but one is a little more complex. You can give it virtual drugs, it exhales (carbon dioxide) and has 12 pulse (settings) as opposed to three. Dadaleares: For instance, we have a trauma kit which we can hook up to a simulator, and it will push liquids through. So we can have a mouth drooling fake mucus, or attach a wounded leg and have it bleeding profusely, or just dripping. It allows us to practice real-world situations in a real-time setting, without the liability of a real patient. Q: So can they actually 'die'? A:Dadaleares: Exactly, they can. And it's pretty traumatic the first time, when a few students have had 'a patient' die on them. One student cried. I actually felt a little something the first time 'a patient' did that. Once the scenario starts running you get caught up, (you) forget it's not a real person, since we have the capacity for the instructor to be the voice of the simulator, and hold conversations with the students, which makes it all the more real.
Q: How long do the scenarios take? Q: The simulators can be male or female, child or adult? A: Toney: They can be interchanged (male/female). The ones we have here are fully adult. There are some differences between children and adults, as you can well imagine. These simulators don't run child, or pediatric scenarios, but they do make some really high-end ones now that are just as complex as the full-size adults. One thing should be clarified. On our campus we have people calling them 'robots.' In a sense they are, but for example, they do not jump up when given a shock. They lie on a table and that's where they stay, though the chest moves, and the eyes open and close. But we can perform pretty major operations, like a pericardiocentesis (the use of a needle to withdraw fluid from the membrane that surrounds the heart). Q: How much do the simulators cost? A: Dadaleares: The 'sim man,' as in simulation, runs about $300,000. The Laerdal model, about $50,000. Q: Where are they made? A: Dadaleares: The big guy, the expensive one by Meti, is made in Sarasota, Fla. Laerdal is based in Texas now but used to be a Norwegian doll-making company. Both companies make the simulators by hand. Q: Have you named them? A: Dadaleares: The big guy is called Pat, and the other is Simon. So they can also be Pat or Simone. Q: Are the simulators unique in Maine? A: Dadaleares: The Meti, I believe, is the only one north of Boston. The simulator they have at (the University of Southern Maine) and possibly at (Southern Maine Community College). UNE actually has four of these, two on the Westbrook campus and two on the Biddeford campus. Q: How did you get into this? A: Dadaleares: I guess I tired of the music business two years ago. I was in bands called Mercy and Smacdada, and Twitchboy, too. I started off as a singer, but then I was going to school full time and eventually handed off that role to my brother. I was doing media studies, multimedia design, at USM. So what got me into this, basically, was a real interest on all levels. I was also really into sports and distance running, and I find health to be an interesting field, and I like to learn as much about it as I can. So the media work and athletics and electronics all come into play here. Q: Was it the media studies at USM that qualified you to do this? A: Dadaleares: Maybe, somewhat, it did help a bit, but no more than being a sound man or recording engineer. I think my skills come just as much from real life. I like to get involved with things and push forward and learn, and I'm not intimidated by electronics or technology. Toney: One thing we did immediately when Todd was selected for this was to send him for formal training at the companies (that made the dolls). So he built on his skills, in a situation where he had the opportunity to learn in a formal didactic way as well as in an experimental way, working with the equipment. Dadaleares: Also, for the first two months I was immersed in medical terminology. One of the nursing teachers here who helped develop the simulation program just hammered me every day with questions, and it was like going back to school. I still have a ways to go getting the lingo down, as it relates to technology. But if an instructor wants to come in and create a scenario in such-and-such a way, I can get there really quickly now.
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