SPCC Basic Life Support lab gets lifelike mannequins From The Enquirer-Journal, Feb. 4, 2010 MONROE ? Giving CPR, or cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, is harder than it looks. Many people misjudge the amount of pressure they need to apply when compressing and underestimate the amount of energy expended when doing it. New medium-fidelity mannequins in South Piedmont Community College?s Basic Life Support lab provide a nearly lifelike experience for students, who will see just how hard it is. Medium-fidelity refers to how lifelike the mannequin is; high-fidelity mannequins would seem even more human. Stuart Wasilowski, vice president of Workforce Development and Continuing Education, said the first class of CPR students to use the mannequins ?were blown away by the hands-on experience and to be able to get the real-time feedback. ?On the (computer) monitor, they could see if they were compressing deep enough,? he said. ?They were stunned at how hard it was.? It also showed them why it is important to work with a partner when performing CPR. ?They need to know they?re only good for two good cycles of CPR,? Wasilowski said. ?I can?t imagine doing another CPR class without them.? ?The mannequins give the students a more lifelike scenario since they interact with the students,? EMS Coordinator Robby Smith said. ?They breathe, talk and have other human-like movements. Usually, once the students get use to the idea of working with them it tends to allow them to get more from the education by seeing and doing at the same time.? The college recently purchased two of the mannequins and upgraded a third one that it already owned. The mannequins emit heart and breath sounds, and they have pulses and blood pressures. They can also be intubated, i.e., have tubes stuck in them. ?It?s real hard to get people to practice that because it?s hard to find volunteers,? Wasilowski said with a laugh. A wireless remote allows instructors to run different scenarios and ?change any of the physiological activities? when students are working with the mannequins,? Wasilowski said, noting that there are 10 scenarios already built in. ?It really enables us to provide some extraordinary training for the layman who walks in the door and just wants some basic CPR, or the EMT and paramedics who just want some advanced training,? he said. These mannequins are not quite as advanced as the mannequin used in the Advanced Life Support classes, but they don?t need to be. ?The ALS lab has narcotics (in it),? Wasilowski said. ?People without the proper skills don?t need to be going in there. ?We had the space and we developed the space,? he said. SPCC?s Facility and Property Services built a wall in the classroom that now separates it from the lab. Cameras have been installed that will allow students in the classroom to watch students working on the mannequins. Instructors will be able to point out what they?re doing right and what they?re doing wrong. Eventually, microphones and speakers will be installed that will allow the instructors to talk to the students in the lab as well. ?The cameras will be able to be controlled in the classroom and be played on the screen that will be added on the side of the room,? Smith said. ?The beauty of the cameras is I can lecture and have some simulating the skills at the same time for the students to see. I will also be able to access the cameras from any Internet connection to see the students or instructors working. This will allow me to do lectures off campus and still have the function of the labs for visual skills.? The two new mannequins cost $9,000 each, while the camera and computer in the lab were $1,000 each. All were purchased with money generated from self-supporting programs (money generated on site) and no state money was used, Wasilowski said. The mannequins were a dream of former EMS Coordinator Chris Johnson, who died of cancer in 2007. In fact, the mannequin in the advanced lab is called Heyward in honor of Johnson, whose middle name was Heyward. ?He never saw (the mannequins),? Wasilowski said. ?But his vision continues on.? ?Now, I have expanded on the vision to what I think is the best learning scenario for the students,? Smith said. ?I have the best person in the world backing up this project with me. Stuart, who is totally immersed in all of his programs, decided to take the EMT course for his personal knowledge and now has the same visions of how important the use of simulation is in the classroom. He is a huge driving force with ideas as well as finding funds to make all of this happen.? It is unusual for technology this high-tech to be used to train EMTs and paramedics, Wasilowski said. Usually, mannequins such as these are used to train nurses. For the college to provide these, he said, shows the college?s commitment to its Emergency Services program. And, he pointed out, it makes perfect sense. ?If the patients don?t make it to the hospital,? he said, ?we don?t need to worry about the nurses and their training.? Link to The Enquirer-Journal, with photos