"Skills you can do on patients, you can do on him:" Meet 'Sim Man,' most life-like robot you'll find
GRAFTON -- He's had dozens of heart attacks, he's lost a few limbs, and he even suffered a lung collapse -- but this patient keeps coming back to life!
Sim Man
Sirens pierce the air outside the Grafton Fire Department -- signaling that it's go time. "Sim Man" is having a heart attack.
"Sim Man" is the most life-like robot you'll find.
"This is a great way for us to train in a realistic situation," Karen Novinska Kottke, a paramedic said.
"Sim Man" belongs to Aurora Healthcare, and he's used for first responder training. He helps local paramedics in rural areas to learn how to deal with emergencies the might not respond to often.
Sim Man
"An EMS provider may go an entire year with only seeing one patient in cardiac arrest, or go an entire career without performing a surgical airway," Dr. Steven Zils, out of hospital medical director for Aurora Medical Center in Grafton said.
"Sim Man" allows emergency responders to practice over and over again until they feel comfortable.
"It is as close as we are going to get to being out in the field," Novinska Kottke said.
Sim Man
"Sim Man" can simulate complications. He will struggle to breathe, and he can even have an allergic reaction where his throat closes up.
But this complex robot does have a few limitations.
"Sim Man" cannot simulate a drowning, because he's not waterproof.
"He`s probably about 85 to 90 percent realistic," Dr. Zils said.
All the behaviors Sim Man exhibits are controlled via wireless internet with a laptop.
"We can take him out into a park we can put him in a home," Dr. Zils said.
Aurora's program with "Sim Man" is unique. It is the only hospital in the area to have a simulator that can travel to a fire department for training -- something valuable for rural communities like Grafton where they are paid on call or for volunteer departments.
"Skills that you can do on real patients, you can do on him," Dr. Zils said.
Sim Man
In fact, there are so many options when it comes to how "Sim Man" can be used. It can be overwhelming for Aurora to keep up as paramedics train.
"He is a very complex computer," Dr. Zils said.
A computer that's able to come to life.
The Aurora Healthcare Foundation raised $75,000 to buy "Sim Man" three years ago.
They have found him so valuable they're looking into purchase an infant model to simulate pediatric emergencies too.
Sim Man