The Simulator Center is building their own web site. It will eventually be available at http://www.anesth.uiowa.edu/simulator/.

The patient simulator is an anatomically accurate, adult size mannequin similar in appearance to the Resusci-Annie mannequins used to teach CPR. The patient simulator manufactured by MedSim is controlled by a computer and can reproduce a broad range of physiologic conditions and responses that are termed “events”. These events can be customized and combined to create a “scenario”. An example of a scenario would be all the events that lead up to or are involved in the formation of a pneumothorax (air in the chest cavity).
    The patient simulator will respond to medications and procedures performed at critical moments just as a human would, and it is the responsibility of the attendant to monitor the “patient's” condition and administer the appropriate treatments. Any particular reaction of the mannequin to the attendant’s treatments can, at any time, be manipulated by an “operator” to create a unique situation each time a scenario is run. Chest sounds and movement, pulse, pupil reaction, blood pressure and neurologic responses are some of the lifelike features of the MedSim patient simulator. Intubations can be performed and chest tubes inserted.
    The patient simulator can be connected to an anesthesia machine and other life support monitors, and readouts of the overall condition of the patient will appear just as they would in a real person, based on the type of anesthesia being provided. In effect, what this allows is the ability to create and reproduce routine and emergency situations in a controlled environment without any risk to human life. The value of this as a teaching tool cannot be overstated.
    Approximately 20 MedSim patient simulators have been incorporated into academic and training programs throughout the United States with 50 units in use worldwide. Prestigious medical facilities such as Harvard and Stanford use MedSim patient simulators. The University of Iowa is the first Big Ten university to purchase a MedSim patient simulator.