Our final stop of the trip was to the Neonatal simulation lab. When we walked into the classroom there were several mannequins laying around, mostly infants but I also noticed an adult one in the corner. They’re the kind of mannequins you’d encounter if you took a CPR class. The two people leading the presentation were both physicians. They explained that the goal of the lab was to provide an immersive simulation so physicians can apply their learning hands-on.
They showed us a video of two physicians going through an actual simulation where the infant was born not breathing. Hovering over them was a woman, presumably a family member, who was hovering over the physicians with a large camcorder constantly making commentary. The physicians tried one thing after another but the infants vital signs on the monitor continued to drop. They would pursue one avenue, in seconds they realized it wasn’t working and had to rethink their strategy and move on to anther technique.
As I watched the video I felt my own blood pressure rising. Even though you know it’s a simulation the pressure is still there. But at the same time not having this be a live human case I suspect makes it easier to separate from the simulation to have a lessons learned post-mortem. After the presentation, we had a chance to tour the actual simulation control room. On the other side of the privacy glass was two nurses going through a simulation. Behind was a serious of computers all controlling different aspects of the room like the monitor and even whether the baby was crying or not.
