Travis AFB gets new training simulator for obstetrics emergencies

The medical staff at the David Grant Air Force Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, California, is testing a new advanced birth simulator. Travis is one of five installations across the Defense Department to be selected by the Defense Health Agency as a pilot base for the new system.

The capabilities of the new Complicated Obstetrics Emergency Simulator will enhance the quality of analysis and feedback available from the training sessions for the medical staff, according to an Air Force Press Release.

"The computer instantly gathers data on how we work as a team and sends that information to the Air Force Medical Operations Agency and [the Defense Health Agency]," said Capt. Tamara Grimaud, the Medical Child Flight commander and a clinical nurse specialist with the 60th Inpatient Squadron. The capability to provide automatic reports and updates allow for the standardization of both training and patient safety.

Evaluators get to see which providers are doing what tasks, as they are doing them, she added. They also get an immediate after-action report.

The simulator provides a level of training that just wasn't possible under the old system, known as the Mobile Obstetric Emergency Simulator, said Lt. Col. Barton Staat, the Air Force Surgeon General consultant for obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine, according to the release. 

The staff at the Maternal Child Flight have been at the forefront of advanced obstetrics training, even developing an improved algorithm that helps newborns breathe after delivery.

"Most of the patients we see at this facility are low risk, [but] occasionally you have an emergency," said Capt. Danielle Siler, an element leader with the 60th IPTS, "those are the ones we practice for."