Phoenix Firefighters and Paramedics to learn latest techniques for on-site child delivery at Banner Good Samaritan SimET Center

Phoenix Fire paramedics Zach Sheridan (left)
and Derek Block "deliver" a baby using the
"Noelle" mannequin in the Banner Good
Samaritan SimET Center. Dr. John Gallagher,
EMS medical director for Phoenix Fire (right),
supervised the training scenario, part of a
series of training classes between Banner
Health and local fire departments.

PHOENIX (January 9, 2007) – Every day, the Phoenix metropolitan area is the scene of dozens of blessed events: mothers giving birth to their new children. Unfortunately, not every birth takes place in the delivery room. As firefighters and other emergency personnel can attest, sometimes they have to bring the delivery room to mom, whether that’s at home or on the side of the road.

In a new program at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, firefighters and paramedics from Phoenix Fire Department will practice with a computerized obstetrics mannequin at the hospital’s Simulation Education and Training (SimET) Center. The mannequin can be programmed to deliver a child at different speeds and with several complications, such as breech or a cord around the neck. The firefighters and paramedics will also learn procedures to resuscitate a newborn or administer emergency aid to the mother.

“This is a great opportunity for our paramedic students to practice the delivery of a baby without the stress of a real life situation. It is, however, the closest thing to real life available for our paramedic students to experience,” said Dr. John Gallagher, EMS medical director for Phoenix Fire Department.

In 2006, Banner Health announced it would offer facility and staff time to municipally-based firefighter organizations. This community provider training is particularly helpful for hospital staff and fire personnel because one of the courses taught in the SimET Center is hand-off, or transfer, communications, such as pre-hospital to Emergency department. The way emergency workers and hospital staff communicate with each other at this juncture is an important element of patient safety.

“One of the benefits of simulation training is that healthcare workers and emergency personnel can learn and practice medical situations – like a childbirth – in a controlled environment so they are prepared for when a real-life situation arises in the field,” said Dr. Marshall Smith, medical director of the SimET Center.

The SimET Center opened in 2006. The $3 million center has become an integral part of medical training for physicians, residents, medical students and nursing staff. Using the mannequins and virtual reality trainers prior to touching a live patient, medical staff will have treated highly sophisticated computerized mannequins by starting their IVs, inserting chest and breathing tubes, administering medications and performing other common procedures. Training is available in a variety of specialties from obstetrics to trauma resuscitation to surgery.

Located in downtown Phoenix, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care since 1911, and is a flagship hospital within Banner Health. Licensed with over 625 inpatient beds, Banner Good Samaritan is a teaching hospital that trains more than 220 physicians annually. Today, nearly more than 1,700 physicians representing nearly 50 specialties work with Banner Good Samaritan staff to provide care to more than 35,000 inpatients each year.

Contact:
Banner Good Samaritan Public Relations
(602) 239-4411