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Naval Hospital Bremerton Opens New Simulation Center

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS101122-08
11/22/2010

By Douglas H Stutz, Naval Hospital Bremerton Public Affairs

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- A ribbon cutting ceremony marked the official grand opening of Naval Hospital Bremerton's Simulation Center Nov. 18.

As part of the ceremony, and with such advanced tools as high-fidelity patient mannequins and a Mobile Obstetric Emergency Simulator, the assembled Navy doctors, nurses, hospital corpsmen and support staff were introduced to high-tech replications offering all-too-real training opportunities at their own command.

"We are training for tomorrow's mission today," said Cmdr. Sally Butler, NHB quality management head. "I'm really excited and proud that we can now train for the unexpected and unpredictable as well as the routine, and also for our operational readiness component heading down-range."

According to Butler, learning how to provide medical support to critical care adult patients provides the core structure of the simulation lab, but there is a gradual emphasis being placed on training to handle pediatric casualties and child trauma cases. The Simulation Center will enable staff members to practice techniques to ensure patient safety, clinical competence and operational readiness.

"The training here will lead to immediate life-saving efforts in the field," she said.

A sizable show of hands was raised by staff members at the grand opening when asked who had experienced pediatric injuries/child trauma while deployed as an Individual Augmentee.

"Pediatrics is the new frontier in trauma training for us," said Butler.

Butler said several Navy nurses who have already deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as IAs are currently receiving specialty training in a simulation center to then help facilitate and share the learned lessons once back at NHB.

"Because we (Navy Medicine) were there and when the local population knew we were there, they would bring their children needing care and we never turned anyone away," said Lt Cmdr Kevin Gue, NHB Intensive Care Unit critical care nurse.

"Whether it's dealing with trauma here or trauma down range in Afghanistan, this simulation center gives us the tool and means to get as close as we can get with necessary training to be prepared," said Capt. Mark E. Brouker, NHB commanding officer. "No training can provide real-life trauma instruction, but our new center will help us drill and gain skills very close real-life."

"My goal is to pass on my acquired experience from the field and help others to build up their muscle memory skill when handling casualties to be successful in a combat zone," said Hospital Corpsman Second Class Andrew Chase of Eugene, Ore., Simulation Center leading petty officer.

Chase is also a Tactical Combat Casualty Care Course instructor, having spent approximately 14 months in Iraq, from the desert of al Anbar province to Baghdad, to the southern coastal region of the Al Faw peninsula.

"No one can fail in this simulation center," said Chase. "These simulation dummies and mannequins are the next best thing to live tissue. We've really come a long ways from how it used to be. This gear is great."

The Simulation Training Center is available for adult resuscitation; child/infant resuscitation; labor and delivery management; advance airway management for adults; nuclear, biological, or chemical incident training; multidisciplinary team training events for medical and surgical wards, Intensive Care Unit and Emergency department; operationally focused trauma reenactment to support the now-mandatory pre-deployment TCCC for hospital corpsmen.

There is also departmental specific training options, as well as clinical sustainment training, Family Medicine Residency 'One Team' and Graduate Medical Education (GME) house staff critical skills task training. There is Navy Nurse and Navy Hospital Corpsmen Orientation program training.

Butler said the appeal of reproducible enactments embodying critical and stressful real-life situations, while eliminating any potential risk of harm to patient and/or staff member, fills a vital need as the staff hones their awareness of patient-safety.

Some of the benefits of the Simulation Center include it being used to improve clinical decision making and psychomotor skills such as airway management and trauma resuscitation.

It can be used to reduce medical error through practicing for improved teamwork. Scenarios can be created to provide known error-producing circumstances, critical clinical situations and even some difficult battle-field conditions that may require specialized training. Training can also be conducted in a setting that minimizes time pressures and enhances time-management.

"We also plan on sharing the center, such as with the USS John C Stennis (CVN 74) Medical department," said Capt Mark Turner, NHB executive officer. "It will be very helpful for them in any number of training evolutions in preparing for carrier strike group operations."