Medical simulations help doctors and nurses prepare for different situations they’ll face.
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 that 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.
“There is a huge need, but there’s not a lot of us,” said Hamblin a simulation educator at Ascension St. Vincent’s.
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,” Hamblin explained.
This is where Hamblin’s hard work is put to use. In this simulation, the patient goes into cardiac arrest hours after open heart surgery.
“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,” said Kristiana Sannella, a PA in Cardiac Surgery at Ascension St. Vincent’s. “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.
“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,” Hamblin said.
Impressive work that leaves an impact and could help save a life.