Matt Foster
Published: August 23, 2005
The patient lying on the stretcher moans something about an attack. The electrocardiogram relaying the patient’s heartbeat drones monotonously in the background, an eerie accompaniment to the drama unfolding. Three paramedics hover over the convulsing form.
One of them bends down to the stretcher. “Sir, what’s wrong.”
The victim complains about respiratory problems and then begins to convulse uncontrollably.
The first responder is Joshua Price, a student from the PJC paramedic program.
The patient, “Frankie,” is one of Warrington campus’ human patient simulators, or “SIM man.”
Conducted by the National Terrorism Preparedness Institute, the two-day weapons of mass destruction class is intended to give hands-on training to emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and nurses in the areas of patient triage and treatment and transportation in the event of exposure to weapons of mass destruction.ÿ
Students were shown the proper way to set up a triage tent, given quizzes on various chemicals that could be encountered, and shown equipment ranging from decontamination suits to breathing masks.
The most engaging and hands-on training, however, were video-taped scenarios ranging from chemical attacks to train wrecks students experienced with Frankie, the college’s human patient simulator.
The simulator is a sophisticated training mannequin that allows students to practice their skills in certain scenarios that they would be unable to do on a living individual.
There’s one thing that separates Frankie from a mannequin however: when the hands-on training begins, Frankie seems to come to life.
He breathes, with his chest rising and falling. He has a pulse, his eyes dilate and blink, and he can even speak to students through a wireless microphone embedded in his body.
“When the students first see him, they kind of laugh and make jokes,” said Syd Daniel, an intern from Brevard Community College who is training on the use of SIM men like Frankie. “But when they (the students) start interacting with him, they understand that these are real.”
“What this really is,” Daniel said, “is training on both an emotional & mental level.”
It’s a social issue, said James Shore, a PJC paramedic student who is currently working for Escambia County EMS.
“It’s very hard to go into a perfect stranger’s residence and say ‘How are you doing today. Let me check your pulse,’ ” Shore said.
“You have to be hands on. This job is nothing but hands on. All the tools that you need are on this mannequin. And it makes transferring from a classroom setting to a live setting that much easier.”
As the class began, a short video clip set up scenarios in which the first responders worked in teams to quickly assess the situation.
For many of the students, this was the first time that some received training on dealing with the moral and ethical issues that go hand in hand with a terrorist attack.
Five years ago, first responders could dive headfirst into situations. Now, in the wake of terrorism, they must stand back and access the possibility of chemical or biological weapon attacks when treating a patient.
“I’ve been through Hazmat training before and some weapons of mass destruction training,” Price, a member of the Midway Fire Department said. “But not in the medical side of it. Not actually going to a patient and actually treating a patient.”
“It’s kind of connecting two worlds together which is pretty neat.”