Simulation – Pharmacy students participate in NICU training for real life emergencies

Les Barta, Director of our Simulation Technology Program recently worked with School of Pharmacy students, other RBHS students, and practicing health care professionals in a simulation exercise at the Bristol Meyers Squibb Children’s Hospital in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. They tested the process for putting a patient on a heart-lung bypass machine (an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation – ECMO). Their goal was to improve technical skills and time on task. The ECMO machine provides critically ill patients with a means to allow their own systems to rest temporarily, while the machine takes over basic life functions. Fundamentally, this is a very complex team-based therapy that requires excellent collaborative skills. Pharmacists play an important role in this life-saving procedure. Click here to see pictures of our students participating in the exercise.