Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I I I N O. X X S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 2 2 16 H E A LT H C A R E / W E L L N E S S F O C U S Realistic scenarios In Wells, York County Community College part- nered with Southern Maine Community College to implement new high-fidelity simulators for the York County campus's Advanced Emergency Medical Technician program, funded through the Maine Jobs & Recovery plan and a Harold Alfond Foundation grant. (e training, including books and supplies, is free for Maine residents who meet the grant requirements.) e money allowed the program to buy adult, child, and birthing mother and baby simulators, says Donald Sheets, co-chair of Southern Maine's Emergency Medical Services Department. "We're using those in our lab settings to create as realistic scenarios as we can," Sheets says. For example, students can check pulses, listen to lung sounds, and monitor cardiac rhythms. "We're creating different scenarios where students can assess things on the simulator that we'd want them to check on a live patient," he says. Leah Mitchell, a former simulation instructor and currently the department's co-chair, says simulators help provide students with experience to fulfill training requirements. "For our EMT students to graduate, they have to do 10 patient encounters," Mitchell says. Due to the pandemic and EMT workforce shortages, that number couldn't be guaranteed through fieldwork in recent years. e simulators fill the gap. Sheets credits state funding for advancing education and workforce development. "ese simulators are very hard for us to ever budget for," he says. "When grant funds come around, it gives us the opportunity to purchase new simulators that we wouldn't otherwise be able to." ere's a world of difference between today's simulators versus those in the past. "You're looking at a more realistic experience for all the senses," says Mitchell. "Twenty years ago, you could do some airway management and some baseline cardiac monitoring. Now you can do surgi- cal procedures." Virtual anatomy Another educational tool is the virtual anatomy table. "Using this technology, we're able to visualize complete anatomical systems in 3D and show how they work as a unit," Northern Maine Community College biology instructor Trena Soucy has said. "e table brings anatomy to life and off the pages of a text book, increasing the students' understand- ing of how the body works in parts and as a whole." e technology should never replace real-life clinical work, says McManus. "But there are things students aren't allowed to do in clinical real-life situations that they can do here," McManus says. "For example, students aren't allowed to give blood in the hospital. As a nurse, the first time you give blood is the first time you've done that procedure. But students can get that experience in our simulation lab. It allows us to teach skills that students can't get as a student. It better prepares graduates for what they'll face in the real world." She adds, "It's a very exciting to be a student or a teacher in the health care professions." L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t l s c h r e i b e r @ m a i n e b i z . b i z BUILDING ON OUR PROMISE. Husson University - College of Business Bangor, Maine Design-Build / Engineering General Contracting Construction Management PO Box 359 - 33 Sheridan Drive Fairfield, ME 04937 Phone: 207.453.9311 www.sheridancorp.com » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M A I N E C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E S Y S T E M A virtual anatomy table Central Maine Community College helps students visualize complete anatomical systems in 3D. Specialized training I n 2021, Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle secured a $1 million grant to develop a 5,000-square-foot emergency medical service simulation lab to allow year-round indoor training with the program's ambulance, purchased in 2020, along with interactive mannequins and audio-visual technology to allow instructors to view and record scenarios. The expansion reflects Aroostook County's increasing need for paramedics and the resulting increased enrollment in the EMS technician and paramedic programs. Since 2018, NMCC EMS students have had access to Trauma Hal, a lifelike training mannequin housed in the Nursing Simulation Center. The new space provides access to additional specialized simulators and training equipment.

• Cover