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Education news and issues in the Ozarks.

From Rescue Annie to Real-World Simulation

Kristin Tivener

When Rescue Annie was introduced in 1960, it was the beginning of a new era of simulation in medical procedures which allowed practitioners, students and clinicians the opportunity to practice and perfect life-saving techniques in a safe and controlled environment. Kristin Tivener, clinical instructor in the department of sports medicine and athletic training at Missouri State University, discusses the advances in medical training – specifically equipment that is a lot more lifelike and responsive than the old fashioned CPR dummy.

    

Tivener explains that fidelity, in the realm of the medical field, relates to the level of realness. For many years, low fidelity equipment, or task trainers have been used. But the current trend is high fidelity simulation to give clinicians and students a greater degree of realness.

See Tivener introduce the equipment

The College of Health and Human Services at Missouri State has a high fidelity simulation lab to train students with many high fidelity mannequins allowing them to simulate any number of medical scenarios. In the fall, the lab will move to the new O'Reilly Clinical Health Sciences Center, and Tivener says the faculty and students are all excited to see the new space and the opportunities that come with the new building.

Diagnosing a patient correctly takes critical thinking – ruling out illnesses and recognizing symptoms quickly in emergency situations. Now, sitting behind a one-way glass mirror, is the instructor that can cause a new symptom to appear or a dire set of circumstances that causes students to think on their feet. This is one of the primary advantages to this unique set of equipment.

While the simulation lab has been utilized by students from many departments in the College of Health and Human Services, Tivener says the faculty have begun collaborating to make it more interdisciplinary which more mimics how real health care professionals assess patients and develop care plans together.

Nicki received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from Missouri State in marketing, in 2002 and 2004 respectively. After gaining experience in writing, marketing, special event planning, fundraising and public relations, she returned to the university to work in the office of strategic communication. There she tells the university’s story by sharing the stories of individuals at Missouri State.
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