Phelps Offers Risk-Free Simulation Training

     The emergency training program at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY, was established at least 20 years ago, but the training offered today is light-years ahead of those first courses. After a period of scrambling for classroom space in the original facility, a brand-new, 7,000-square-foot center opened in September 2007 that should be the envy of training programs across the country. According to its director, Jeff Meade, NREMT-P, CIC, much of the credit for the facility is due to the persistence of Phelps' long-time medical director, Dr. Emil Nigro, and a generous benefactor who donated $1 million to begin the process for a new training center.

     "We now have a facility where our primary mission remains emergency medical services, but it's been expanded to include training for ED staff," says Meade. One highlight is training for field and in-hospital personnel on decontamination procedures.

     "We have a room set up with water sprayers in the ceiling, decon tables, epoxy-treated walls and a floor drain, so it's designed for real hands-on decontamination," says Meade. "To further that, we had a 150-lb. manikin built for us that's specially designed for decontamination practice."

     All rooms are fully equipped with built-in digital imagery and audio, so students' skill sessions can be videotaped and played back individually or to an entire class.

     "In the simulation lab, students become so immersed in their environment they forget the camera is there," says Meade. "As they begin to interact with their very life-like manikin, making assessments and administering treatment, you can see their stress levels rise and see them get upset when they think they aren't doing well. When we replay the sessions, the instructor can zoom in on specific areas. If the student is taking a blood pressure, the cameras are good enough so you can actually read the numbers off the cuff."

     The center has state-of-the-art emergency medicine simulators set up in three rooms: One resembles a home environment, one the inside of an ambulance and the third a hospital emergency room.

     "We literally built the inside of a Type I box ambulance, even lifting the floor to the actual height of the back of an ambulance," says Meade. "It has built-in suction and oxygen, the beds are the correct height, and the height inside is the same as a real vehicle.

     "Another simulation lab is set up as a bedroom that can be in a house, a hospital or a nursing home," Meade continues. "We can flip furniture around and wheel in different kinds of beds. The third lab is set up like an ED receiving room, which gives us an opportunity to run a scenario for ambulance crews. We give them a 'patient,' and they have to load it into the ambulance, treat it like they would on the way to the hospital, then unload and transfer their patient back into the ED, including their report. We can even put a 'doctor' in the scenario to facilitate that part of the training."

     Since opening, the new center has seen significant growth in its ACLS and PALS programs, and both street and hospital providers are taking advantage of the simulators.

     "Five years ago, we were training about 200 students a year," says Meade. "Last year, we trained over 1,000, and we don't see any end to that."

     Students can take a complete EMT course at Phelps, or just come in for an intensive weekend in the simulation labs, says Meade. Most of the programs are approved for continuing education credit and are sponsored by the New York State Department of Health. Phelps is also a training center for the American Heart Association.

     For more information, go to www.phelpshealth.org or call 914/366-3676.