By Christopher Knaus
The Canberra Times
CANBERRA, Australia — This baby cries, it chokes, its lips turn blue, and its tiny heart can stop.
Its screams, slowed breathing and fading pulse are frighteningly realistic.
The baby, worth a cool $80,000, is part of a collection of high-tech mannequins now being used to train the territory’s paramedics at Hume.
The mannequins are designed to simulate a real life emergency environment, helping to hone the skills of paramedics before they hit the streets.
The technology is part of a simulated emergency environment that cost the ACT government nearly $700,000 over three years.
The mannequins feature replaceable skin and veins, and simulated pulses and blood pressure. They breathe, groan, and can respond to the questions of paramedics, or have their conditions changed at the touch of a button by trainers.
ACT Ambulance Service chief officer David Foot said the simulation environment taught invaluable skills and lessons to paramedics, before they’re faced with the real thing.
“What we’re able to do is [train] in a no-harm environment, where the paramedical staff during basic training can make mistakes, but no one gets hurt as a result of that,” he said.
“We can learn from that, we’re also able to provide a high level of quality assurance around that training and how it occurs.”
Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell said the simulation environment was an “important priority” for the government in strengthening pre-hospital care for Canberrans.
“These new high-tech mannequins are a very important training tool that will allow our paramedic staff to keep up to date with the latest techniques and have a training environment that simulates real life,” Mr Corbell said.
“It’s a very important capability and we’re very proud that we have this high-tech capability that keeps our paramedics at the cutting edge.”
The first mannequin was received last financial year, and more will be received over a rolling period of three years.
Copyright 2012 The Federal Capital Press of Australia PTY Limited
All Rights Reserved