SimMan provides lifelike training Published March 9, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Wesley Wright Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- As the patient stops breathing and begins to flat line, the technicians scramble to bring him back. Precious seconds tick away as one technician begins CPR while another begins charging a difibulator. "Clear!" The patient coughs once after being shocked, but he's still not breathing. The technicians don't panic though; they realize he can be brought back to life with the click of a mouse. Lt. Col. Jennifer Bauer, 5th Medical Group chief nurse, wishes fixing real patient medical problems was that easy. The SimMan and SimBaby, two high-tech training dummies, are part of 5th MDG's advanced training labs designed to simulate numerous medical conditions. "These training dummies are amazing," said Colonel Bauer. "We can program just about any scenario you can imagine and control every aspect of the SimMan's medical condition from a laptop. The technology is state of the art." The SimMan can simulate medical conditions ranging from a simple cold to a stroke - Intravenous drip to bleeding arteries, it's all there. Likewise, the SimBaby can simulate almost any pediatric condition. "One of the neat things about the SimBaby is we can program it to react to medical conditions and procedures the same way an infant would," said Colonel Bauer. "A child will react differently to some medical conditions and procedures than an adult would." According to Maj. Ann Perry, 5th MDG Education and Training/Readiness Flight commander, the 5th MDG is lucky to have these particular training dummies. "For an outpatient facility to have training dummies this sophisticated is pretty impressive," said Major Perry. "There are interchangeable body parts for a wide range of medical procedures. We're very happy to have these training options at our disposal." Major Perry indicated the challenge of keeping personnel current with their training requirements is made easier by the dummies. "Before we got these training dummies we had to send our people to St. Louis or Baltimore to get their training done," she said. "That was costing about $5,000 per person, and we have 24 people that had to have that training." "Now, with these training dummies, not only can we fulfill training requirements in-house, but we can use them for supplementary training as well." The 5th MDG also uses the dummies to provide technicians with the opportunity to perform procedures on their schedule, rather than the patient's. "There aren't exactly dozens of people standing in line to have someone practice chest tube procedures on them," said Major Perry. "With these dummies we can practice on our timeline, painlessly without risk to any live person." Tech. Sgt. Rosita Dacpano, 5th MDG NCO in charge of pediatrics is impressed with the dummies. "They're just so real," she said. "Every aspect of a real person's physical condition is there: breathing, blood pressure, oxygen levels, etc. Supervisors can even talk into a microphone from the other room and the voice comes through the dummy's mouth." Sergeant Dacpano relishes the supplementary training the dummies provide. "There are a couple of medical procedures within my job description that, as a practical matter, I don't get to perform very often because we're an outpatient facility," she said. "With the SimBaby and the SimMan, I'm able to achieve optimum proficiency at all aspects of my job." Readiness is another area of the 5th MDG operations the training dummies support. Colonel Bauer and Major Perry like using the training dummies to teach personnel there is a consequence to everything, especially in wartime. "We're required to remain wartime ready at all times," said Colonel Bauer. "Performance based training like this is key in supporting the wartime mission." "Every action has a reaction," added Major Perry. "And we simulate that in the training environment. If it can happen on a battlefield, we can simulate it here. We program the scenarios to challenge our people at every level of their profession to ensure their wartime readiness." Click ... click -- and the patient's breathing fine again. Although the technicians can't save real people with a simple click, they do know what needs to be done, thanks to the dummies.