Photograph by Jonathan Pollock
St. Louis Children’s Hospital gained a youthful addition in April: the Saigh Pediatric Simulation Center. With three high-fidelity, electromechanical mannequins replicating a range of patients’ ages—a baby, a toddler, and a 9-year-old—it’s the only pediatric simulation center within 300 miles. “What this does is it allows the staff and students to get an educational experience without interrupting their whole day,” explains Dr. James Fehr, a pediatric anesthesiologist-intensivist who runs the center.
In the past, physicians and nurses trained on young patients under the guidance of superiors, with practice limited to actual situations. Now physicians, nurses, medical students, and others can simulate a range of situations—both commonplace and those termed “high-risk, low-frequency”—in a safe and controlled environment. A facilitator controls the computer-driven mannequins to represent an array of diseases and reactions.
What makes the center so instrumental is its sophistication. The mannequins’ blood pressure and heart rate appear on a bedside monitor, they secrete blood-like substances and other fluids, and they can simulate breathing—even through a tube. “Medications can be administered, and the mannequin responds physiologically to that medication,” explains Margaret Hassler, the center’s nurse facilitator. Using a bar-code system, it recognizes the medication and administered volume, says Hassler, allowing physicians, nurses, and pharmacists to make mistakes without the risk of harm. After each simulation, nurses and physicians debrief to discuss errors and learn from the experience.
The center is currently in the building-and-development process, but Fehr hopes to eventually expand its reach far beyond its 2,300 square feet—to those besides the staff and medical students at Children’s Hospital. “Our initial goal is to use the simulation center to train and raise to the highest level of quality our trainees and those of us who work here; in the long term, we would love to support broader efforts.”
