Nursing Students Gain Life-Saving Donation from 1981 Alumnus
Monday, March 19th, 2007One of SUNY Canton’s patient training simulators will live another day thanks to defibrillators donated by 1981 Alumnus Russell (R.B.) Lawrence III, and his wife, Sharon.
SHOCKING DONATION – SUNY Canton alumnus Russell B. (R.B.) Lawrence III and his wife, Sharon, recently donated two Hewitt Packard Monitor defibrillators to the colleges. Pictured are (l to r) back row, Rod Cota Operations Supervisor for RB Lawrence Ambulance Service, Kyle Thurston of Lawrence's, Deb Skogen of Theresa, and Lawrence's Office Manager Georgine Scott, front row are Patricia Oppong from the Bronx, Douglas Duprey of Lisbon, Leslie Dardaris of Potsdam, and Michelle Mann of Hammond.
The Lawrences, who own and operate RB Lawrence Ambulance Service in Canton, had previously loaned the two Hewitt Packard Monitor defibrillators so the class could practice their life-saving techniques, according to Assistant Professor of Nursing Mary Ann Caswell. “The defibrillators are extremely effective learning tools in class,” she said.
Caswell’s second-year Nursing students have already employed the devices during a training session, utilizing one of the college’s state-of-the-art Laerdal SimMan Universal Patient Simulators. A typical training session is as close to real medical practice as possible, without working with a human patient. Among other features, the computer-controlled animatronic SimMan can talk, breath, and replicate a full-scale heart attack.
“These simulations teach our students the life-saving abilities they will need when they join the workforce,” Caswell said. “They forget they fact that they are working on a robot and focus on saving its life as though it was a real patient.”
Douglas Duprey of Lisbon faced a heart attack scenario during the training session. He was speaking with the SimMan, who was complaining of the worst pain ever, when all of the sudden the life-sized rubber-molded man stopped breathing. Duprey looked for a pulse and immediately called for his classmates’ assistance. Under Caswell’s supervision, Duprey released the paddles from their holders and prepared to shock the mannequin back to life.
“Now make certain that no one is touching the bed or the mannequin,” Caswell said.
Duprey responded by telling each of his classmates to stand clear as he set the paddles on the mannequin. Then the defibrillator beeped as he pressed the buttons that sent a shock to the non-responsive SimMan. As the SimMan began to regain his vital signs, Duprey’s classmates performed a series of tests and procedures to ensure that their patient simulator would remain “alive.”
Lawrence’s donation was arranged through the SUNY Canton College Foundation, which frequently helps students’ experience with scholarships, monetary donations to academic endeavors, or by securing in-kind educational donations.
The SimMan mannequins were purchased last year through federal grants and are designed to be sick with a variety of ailments or die on demand for instructional purposes.
