To better prepare rural healthcare providers for life-threatening emergencies, a Montana nonprofit is using high-tech medical simulators to bring hands-on training directly to smaller communities like Hardin.
Local medical professionals participate in pediatric trauma simulation
Medical students, paramedics and other first responders in training gathered for some hands-on simulations at the Missoula County Fairgrounds on Wednesday. Organizations set up stations at the fairgrounds for trauma, cardiac arrest, and mass casualty scenarios to prepare first responder trainees for emergency situations. At one of the stations, a team worked through a cardiac arrest simulation with a mannequin named Bill, through a program called Simulation in Motion Montana.
Medical students, paramedics and other first responders in training gathered for some hands-on simulations at the Missoula County Fairgrounds.
Simulation in Motion Montana (SIM-MT) returned to Salish Kootenai College (SKC) for its final simulation session of the academic year with Junior nursing students. This culminating experience focused on one of the most challenging topics in healthcare geriatric death and dying and gave students the opportunity to practice difficult but essential conversations with patients and family members.
Montana continues to rank among the highest in the nation per capita for opioid overdose deaths, but hospitals like St. Peter’s Health are preparing for this surge through life-like simulations.
Simulation in Motion Montana led a tabletop exercise, and Jason Mahoney, the classroom program director, says, "We give them challenges and questions to work through what their plans are, but so much of this is based on how well entities can coordinate and communicate between themselves."
