Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021 - 5

FROM EXPERIENCE / ROUNDS
Train like a Navy SEAL
Military-inspired preparedness drives an emergency simulation training program.
BY BRIAN BUSENBARK
of the participants and their needs.
Prior to a simulation, Foland's team
pulls coding data from that unit to
determine its most common diagnoses
and emergency situations to customize
the training. And the sessions are held
within that unit rather than a conference
or training room. " We find things
in their processes that may need to be
improved, " Foland says. Those improvements
have included helping clinical
teams redesign workspaces and relocate
supplies. The simulation team also
customizes
sessions
around
recent
events and seasonality-for example,
in the summer, training focused on
drowning scenarios.
Foland says feedback on the program
L
istening to an interview chronicling
the raid of Osama bin Laden's
compound in 2011 by the U.S. Navy's
Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) Team Six got
Jason Foland thinking about pediatric
emergency care. Foland was fascinated
by the six months of rigorous training
the SEALs endured for this one event-
planning exhaustively to respond to any
unexpected turn the mission could take.
" With that in mind, I wanted to practice
and simulate all the high-risk scenarios
we might encounter, " says Foland, M.D.,
pediatrician-in-chief at The Studer Family
Children's Hospital at Ascension Sacred
Heart in Pensacola, Florida. " As a pediatric
ICU physician by training, I know
how scary it can be for non-emergency
providers to take care of children. "
Foland secured funding for three
training mannequins to simulate a newborn,
a 6-month-old and a 9-year-old.
Foland says they're incredibly lifelike;
among the physiological conditions they
can simulate are crying, eyes that open
and close, pupils that dilate, variations in
heart rate and respiratory function and
even seizures. Foland and the trainers
control the mannequins wirelessly to
simulate these scenarios.
Foland, along with a team of seven
mannequin training specialists, created
a curriculum to keep providers'
skills sharp while
getting them more comfortable
with emergency
situations they may not
see regularly. The team
conducts
several
training
sessions per week-
to date, more than 400-
with groups of providers throughout
the children's hospital, in other health
care facilities in the Ascension Sacred
Heart network and with first responder
agencies in the region.
In addition to addressing basic life
support skills, the training covers advanced
scenarios with a focus on early
recognition of children in distressed
states to avoid a full-code situation.
Each session is tailored to the skill level
IT REALLY CHANGES
THE STRESS LEVEL OF
THE EDUCATION.
has been positive. It takes about eight
to 12 weeks for the team to complete the
rotation through all eligible staff members-and
he finds providers are eager
to revisit the training once they've gotten
a taste for it. " It's like a glass of water
in the Sahara, " Foland says. " People are
really thirsty for it. " He's
also seeing positive effects
on patient care.
Everyone appears to be
more comfortable, and
less-experienced practitioners
are taking more
active roles in emergency
situations, according to
Foland. He says communication in those
scenarios has improved, as everyone on
the team can anticipate the needs of the
others. " It's gratifying because you want
to share this knowledge when it's not an
emergency-it really changes the stress
level of the education, and ultimately
everyone's prepared when they actually
see an emergency, " he says.
Tell your hospital's story. Email
magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Fall 2021
5
Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021

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