Wellington Hospitals Foundation is thrilled to announce a significant investment in Hi-Tech Medical Simulation Technology for Wellington Regional Hospital.
The use of patient simulators is recognised as an essential tool within medical education that greatly improves patient safety and emergency care.
The goal of the Simulation and Skills Centre is to improve health outcomes by supporting clinical teams to practice treating rare and complex medical cases as well as time-critical emergencies, in a safe and risk-free environment.
Patient simulators are designed to react physiologically as if they were a real-life patient. Bill Day, Wellington Hospitals Foundation Chair said, “Simulator medical manikins are incredibly lifelike. Hi-fidelity Sims can blink, eye track, speak, breathe, sweat and bleed, have heart beats and respond to medical treatments like intubation and resuscitation as if they were a real human. They can be programmed with many different emergency scenarios allowing clinical staff to ‘practice on plastic’ first. The new manikins represent a significant $350,000 in our hospital’s Simulation Technology.”
VICTORIA Advanced Birthing, Obstetrics & Gynaecology Patient Simulator and PREMATURE ANNE
There were 3,458 new babies born at Wellington Regional Hospital in the last year. The first 10 minutes after birth are critical for all babies and being prepared for emergency scenarios is vital.
VICTORIA and PREMATURE ANNE are incredible and lifelike patient simulators that will enable the women’s health team, including doctors, anaesthetists, midwives and nurses to learn and practice complex birthing skills.
Melita Macdonald, Simulation Service Manager for Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley District’s Centre of Clinical Excellence team explains that “VICTORIA is one of a kind in New Zealand. She is a high fidelity birthing simulator that will enable us to run interdisciplinary simulation training with an aim to increasing both mother and baby’s safety. She can be used to simulate complex deliveries such as caesareans, breach births, shoulder dystocia, as well as non-complex deliveries, cardiac and emergency response and gynaecological teaching; so will be used by many different teams.”
PREMATURE ANNE is an authentic representation of a 25 week old premature baby with tiny and anatomically correct airways, respiration and vascular systems. This allows clinical teams to practice intubation, tube insertions, resuscitation and other high needs medical interventions on a realistic tiny preemie. As one of few hi-tech premature simulators in New Zealand, she is being used by clinical teams across the country.
NICU’s Neonatologist, Maria Saito-Benz says, “The ability to provide realistic simulation training regularly for our staff will undoubtedly, as research has demonstrated, improve the emergency care that we provide each and every day for vulnerable babies and their long term outcomes.”
SIMMAN 3GPLUS HPS Emergency Care & Trauma Simulator
SimMan is a high-fidelity patient simulator that will be used in a variety of learning simulations, including in-situ training for the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, as well as Anaesthetics training and specific skills training for anaphylaxis, arrhythmias, trauma and burns.
3D Printing
3D printing is increasingly used in healthcare activities. With the generous support of our donors, the Foundation has also provided funding for the Improvement and Innovation team at Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley to purchase a 3D printer plus printing materials.
The Improvement and Innovation team support people to run initiatives that improve care, equity and health outcomes for all. These initiatives sometimes require the use of a 3D printer to, for example, prototype new devices and to develop innovative solutions.
By having a 3D printer, the team are able to undertake printing work onsite. The team also work with a local University who support them with their 3D printing work. Recently the team have worked alongside the Simulation and Skills Centre to print a section of a spine and a shoulder that will be used in future Sim Training.
Wellington Hospitals Simulation and Skills Centre is one of the most well equipped in New Zealand and is the only hospital in the southern hemisphere to have an Air Ambulance Simulator, which was also funded by Wellington Hospitals Foundation donors.
Bill Day said, “Thanks to the generosity of Wellington Hospitals Foundation donors and charity partners, including World Marudào Karate Organisation, The Lion Foundation and Pub Charity Ltd, these new Simulation Technologies will be a game changer. We are incredibly proud to partner with our donors to invest in state of the art technology that helps our dedicated hospital teams improve health outcomes for patients and their families.”