David Timms Named 2020 Excellence in Simulation Award Winner

ALBANY, NY—iSimulate announced Sept. 23 that David Timms, director of healthcare simulation for Chesapeake College, Wye Mills, Md., has been named the winner of the 2020 iSimulate Excellence in Simulation Award.

The Excellence in Simulation Award honors an EMS educator who consistently demonstrates commitment to providing high-quality, hyper-realistic and professional simulations for EMS practitioners to learn and live by.

With a 20-year career in EMS including 10 years of education experience, Timms was a natural fit to launch the simulation component of the college’s educational program.

"This is a role that did not exist a few short years ago,” said Rieves (Chip) Verdery III, BS, NRP, in his nomination letter in support of Timms. “David saw the need and the value for great healthcare simulation and took personal responsibility to get the program up and running for Chesapeake College.”

Timms took a lead role in acquiring the simulators, manikins, and standardized patient equipment needed for multiple levels of education offered at the college—EMT, paramedic, recertification and continuing education. He established simulation scenarios that can be used with both low- and high-fidelity simulators and standardized patients. He brought in standardized patients and began their training.

Timms is driven to make all lab experiences as lifelike, realistic and professional as possible, Verdery said. “He tries new equipment with multiple vendors and performs hours of research on varying products to ensure the simulations will fit the EMS model with as much realism as possible. David is not afraid to work on simulators to make them perform flawlessly for all scenarios. He has adapted all simulations constantly to meet all national education standards and most recently to meet and exceed the expectations of Appendix G.”

A committed lifelong learner himself, Timms has earned advanced certifications such as Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) and Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS). He holds a master’s degree in distance education, maintains his Maryland paramedic license, and travels extensively to conferences to both learn and teach.

“All of this encompasses the reason that David is an outstanding EMS simulation expert,” Verdery said.