MEDICAL TRAINING


Meet the mannequins P


Summons editor Jim Killgore watches a group of medical students put through their paces at the Scottish Clinical Simulation Centre


ETER Oliver won’t wake up. Te patient had been admitted to an acute ward the night before, intoxicated and suffering from a minor assault. A wedding party had got out of hand


and Peter’s arms and face show minor bruising and he has a contusion on his forehead. Someone in A&E mentioned a pool cue. Earlier that morning he complained of pain and was given a


small dose of morphine but now nurses cannot rouse him. Two foundation year doctors along with two medical students attend the patient. One calls in a loud voice: “Mr Oliver. Are you with us?” But the patient’s eyes remain shut and he snores loudly. One of the medical students checks his BP: 172/90; another


draws bloods. A foundation year doctor – Victoria – checks his pupils. Te leſt is fixed and dilated; the right normal. Te other FY shouts again: “Mr Oliver!” But the patient snores


on – except he is not actually doing the snoring. I am watching this scenario from a one-way mirrored control room. Sitting next to me in front of a bank of computer screens with multi-angle audiovisual feeds is Alistair Geraghty, doing a surprisingly credible imitation of snoring into a desktop microphone. In reality Peter is not a live patient but an automated mannequin and this scenario is part of a technical skills course being


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conducted in one of two multipurpose simulation suites at the Scottish Clinical Simulation Centre (SCSC). Alistair is a simulator fellow at the centre which is based at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert not far from Edinburgh. Te SCSC is the only high-fidelity simulation centre in Scotland


and was established in 1998 with part-funding by NHS Education for Scotland. Te Centre provides training for over 1,000 doctors and other healthcare professionals each year through a variety of courses both on-site and out in the field in hospital wards, emergency departments, resus rooms and even ambulances. Course participants range from paramedics, ambulance crew,


midwives, nurses, advance care practitioners to trainees in various fields, such as paediatrics, emergency medicine, anaesthesia and obstetrics. Training is conducted on a range of mid and high- fidelity mannequins including adult, child and baby simulators which can be programmed to mimic different medical conditions, replicating the appropriate physical response to particular interventions and drugs. On the day of my visit Alistair is running a course for a group of


fourth and fiſth year medical students. Centre stage is an automated mannequin, nicknamed Reg. His chest rises and falls as he breathes. A course participant listening with a stethoscope will


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