Feb. 10, 2012 —
The first thing RCMS student Destiny Hampton heard when she got to school yesterday was that there was a dead body in James Byron’s 7th grade science class.
He wasn’t dead, though. In fact, he blinked and registered a pulse, and creepy sounds came from his belly.
It was METIman©, Northeast Kentucky Area Health Education Center’s (AHEC) new high-tech patient simulator. AHEC staff brought him to the middle school to the awkward delight of students.
“It’s a little bit weird,” said one student as they gathered around the incredibly life-like METIman, listening to his heart and lungs with stethoscopes, and startling when he blinked.
The $45,000 patient simulator is used to train health care professionals in virtually any medical situation, according to an AHEC newsletter.
METIman can replicate emergency medical situations, react to medications, and even bleed. It has multiple IV entry ports, pupils that react to light and eyes that can cry.
Aaron Lodes, AHEC health careers educator, and Miranda Smith, a third-year resident in the Rural Physician’s Leadership Program, helped Byron’s science students explore some of METIman’s more basic functions.
They leaned in close and tried to distinguish rapid heartbeats and breathing from normal ones. A stethoscope to his belly revealed METIman might have tummy trouble.
“His bowels sound hyperactive, which usually indicates a virus. Your belly shouldn’t sound like that,” Smith told the students.
“He sounds hungry,” countered student Harley Woodrow.
After the simulation, Lodus asked which students were interested in health care careers. A smattering of hands went up, including Kirstian Campbell, who aspires to be a nurse and took seriously the task of checking METIman’s pulse.
After each student observed the simulator, Lodes gave students a career interest quiz and encouraged them to consider careers in the health professions.
When he’s not on tour at local schools, METIman helps train health care personnel and students throughout the region. For information call the Morehead AHEC office at 783-6506.
Noelle Hunter can be reached at nhunter@themoreheadnews.com or by telephone at 784-4116.
Local News
Related Photos
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Beth Terry, left, Karli Baldridge, Victoria Wages and Emily May had a doctor’s eye view of METIman, AHEC’s patient simulator, during a presentation at Rowan County Middle School. AHEC brought the high-tech simulator, used to train health care workers, to James Byron’s science classes. Photo by Noelle Hunter
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RCMS 7th grader Kelsey Nance listens to the heart and lungs of METIman, AHEC’s realistic patient simulator. Students in James Byron’s science classes used METIman to learn about the human body. Photo by Noelle Hunter
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METIman is Northeast Kentucky AHEC’s new high-tech patient simulator. Students and health care personnel learn how to treat patients using the realistic training tool. Photo by Noelle Hunter
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Miranda Smith, third-year resident in the Rural Physicians Leadership Program, demonstrates some of METIman’s abilities to 7th grader Michael Wallace. AHEC takes the patient simulator to schools to encourage students to consider health care professions. Photo by Noelle Hunter
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