TORONTO – Doctors and emergency officials surround a body, trying to revive a patient in cardiac arrest in a St. Michael’s Hospital room.
While the doctors are working hard, the patient isn’t real – he’s a robot that helps the team practice through one of many simulation drills. The hospital located in the centre of downtown Toronto is using life-like model patients to run through real life emergencies in the surgical intensive care unit.
It’s a chance for the staff to test out technology as well as the size and layout of the rooms before the hospital breaks ground on a new tower.
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The state-of-the-art technology includes a simulator robot with pupils that dilate, simulated breathing and a “patient” voice delivered by microphone. The practice drills are meant to give the staff a feel for the new space, allow them to test the new equipment in a near-real-world setting and make sure the room is set up in a way that works best for the team.
“This is a common crisis scenario that our intensive care nurses and doctors face everyday. This was a cardiac arrest and we wanted to see how the design of the room will impact the team interaction, team performance and their ability to make the right decisions,” Dr. Teodor Grantcharov, a St. Mike’s researcher and surgeon, told Global News.
“In discussion with our planning department we found that it could be quite an innovative approach to test the technology that we will be implementing in the new intensive care unit, to see whether it is ergonomic, whether it can impact differences in technology design, safety and teamwork,” he said.
Other simulations will be included from inpatient rooms, intensive care units and nursing stations so that doctors and support staff can test out the size and layout of the new hospital, Vas Georgiou, executive vice president and chief administrative officer, told Global News.
“The opportunity really is before we firm up the final drawings and start construction to know clinicians have had an opportunity to comment and provide input on the final design before we start building,” Georgiou said.
The new 17-storey building will be located and Queen St. and Victoria St. Construction is expected to begin next July.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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