They bleed, cough, convulse and even call out in pain. These rubbery humanoids (also called mannequins or patient simulators) are part of AdventHealth East Orlando's new medical simulation laboratory.
Here, current and future health care professionals physicians, nurses and medical students learn new skills while refining and enhancing their techniques.
Just as NASA astronauts simulate flying missions before the real thing, the laboratory provides hands-on learning where teams encounter a wide array of medical scenarios, from birthing a baby to treating a patient suffering a heart attack.
"We'll be able to deal with any clinical situation after having experienced different scenarios dozens of times," says Patricio Bruno, MD, Director of medical education at AdventHealth East Orlando.
"We can simulate events we don't often see, even manipulate them, and respond in a coordinated fashion when we actually encounter the scenario," says Paul Zipper, DO, Chief Resident.
AdventHealth East Orlando's simulation center has three rooms with a central command center, from which instructors control the mannequins; a skills lab with various body parts; and a lecture hall for debriefing and reviewing videos recorded during training.
A growing body of evidence shows that simulation training prepares health care professionals for real-life situations. As a result, simulation centers are becoming more common in hospitals and medical schools.
