INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Medical simulations help doctors and nurses prepare for different situations they’ll face. Healthcare Training
For the best training, they need to be as real as possible. One woman behind the scenes is using her creativity and a little bit of science to make healthcare training happen.
Tiffany Hamblin spent two decades as an EMT and paramedic. Now, she’s working in a hospital, doing something many people can’t do.
Tiffany Hamblin, Simulation Educator, Ascension St. Vincent says, “There is a huge need, but there’s not a lot of us.” She creates body parts for medical simulations and training. She uses a variety of materials to make sure the texture, weight, and feel of each one is as real as possible.
“When they touch that, they’re like, ‘oh, I didn’t know that it felt like that. They’re feeling that here.’ They’re not feeling that in an actual person for the first time.” explains Hamblin.
This is where Tiffany’s hard work is put to use. In this simulation, the patient goes into cardiac arrest hours after open heart surgery. healthcare training
Kristiana Sannella, PA, Cardiac Surgery, Ascension St. Vincent says, “This patient has wires just like a surgical patient would that we’re able to open and expose the heart. There’s a heart in there for us to practice.”
Sannella says, “Having the materials be so lifelike is very important for our team because it allows us to do a better job with less change from simulation to real life.”
They also use simulations to train for rare medical complications. One example – when a baby is born with intestines outside of the body.
Hamblin says, “When they come in, then they will have to handle this bowel, just like they would have to handle the bowel in a real baby.”
Impressive work that leaves an impact and could help save a life.
Tiffany says her work is a very precise science. When she creates each piece, she has to get the measurements just right. And not all materials work well together. She has also spent countless hours researching different body parts and systems to make sure what she creates is as close to the real thing as possible.
Contributors to this news report include: Lindsey Dailey, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor, and Kyle Fisher, Videographer.
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