South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is taking clinical education and training to the next level – with simulation facilities fit for the set of a Hollywood blockbuster.
From an immersive suite with projections of real-life scenarios, a 3D printer to make bones, life cast and trauma manikins and a talented special effects make-up team, the education team has created a cutting-edge learning environment.
The equipment, which also includes a fleet of simulation vehicles, has been showcased as part of Healthcare Simulation Week 2021, run by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare.
Among the vehicles available to students and staff are a double-crewed ambulance, patient transport vehicle and two large, fully-functioning ambulance simulators known as Simbulance 1 and 2, the latter being the more modern Fiat model.
In addition a new ambulance room, created from a vehicle that was damaged and not roadworthy, has been built in the recently-opened Whiteley Education Centre and is aptly named Roombulance.
Simbulance 2 has undergone alterations to transform it into an up-to-date mobile training vehicle with items such as audio and visual recording equipment, a visual playback monitor, fully portable camera recording system and a TV built into the sliding door.
This provides the ability to “stream” the inside of the simulator and undertake instant debriefs outside.
The immersive interactive training suite, as well as offering the latest technology including virtual reality projections, provides sounds and smells such as burning wood or nightclubs, while one training centre even includes a shop front and street – complete with a traffic safety barrier – for lifelike scenario drills.
Education centres at SCAS are located in Bicester, Newbury and Whiteley and provide the full range of clinical, driving and patient transport training to students and staff from across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex.
“We are incredibly proud of our state-of-the-art simulation centres and combined technology studio and it has been a pleasure for us to showcase these exciting facilities more widely as part of Healthcare Simulation Week,” said Wayne Evans, Education Manager for Clinical Simulation at SCAS.
“The amazing benefits of our simulation centres is that we can create such realistic scenarios that instils not only confidence in our staff but takes our training to the next level.
“The beauty of simulation is that we can create true to life emergencies without the consequence, helping to gain invaluable experiences for our staff and students taking into account human factors.”
Darren Best, Senior Education Manager at SCAS, added: “It is important we provide the best possible training environment and facilities to our students and staff to ensure they can provide the highest standards of care to our patients.
“We have developed something truly special in terms of our simulation centres and what we can offer, ensuring every last detail is covered so the scenarios staff encounter are as close as possible to the real thing and providing on-the-spot learning through real-time analysis.”
Find out more about the team’s work via this short video: https://youtu.be/VE0O1dSESFc.