MC receives assistance for perinatal healthcare trainingNovember 28, 2017

On Monday, November 27, the Texas Perinatal Association (TPA) awarded the F. Marie Hall SimLife Center at Midland College (MC) $2,000 for the Little Babies/Big Need project.  The project aims to support education for providers and consumers of perinatal healthcare in the Permian Basin. 

“Our goal is to support training for the care of preemies [premature infants] so that Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) providers and parents can practice skills on preemie-sized manikins before they provide NICU care or take their little babies home,” said Jill Skaggs, TPA board member.

According to MC SimLife Center Director Dr. Lea Keesee, the grant from TPA will be used to purchase a manikin that is realistically the size of a 28-week premature infant.  This manikin will allow MC health sciences students, Texas Tech Health Sciences students and healthcare teams at Midland Health the ability to practice providing care from birth to NICU.

“The addition of the preemie manikin to our facility will allow us to offer skills training and simulation-based exercises that mimic real-life scenarios encountered in hospital Labor & Delivery and NICU departments,” explained Keesee.  “We are also planning to offer multidisciplinary team training and parent practice using the preemie manikin.”

Keesee and Skaggs said that planned simulations and parents of preemies classes at the MC SimLife Center will mirror TPA’s mission of promoting continuing improvement in the quality of healthcare for mothers and infants. 

The MC SimLife Center allows learners to make critical decisions in a realistic environment where it’s “safe” to make a mistake.  Healthcare professionals are accustomed to simulation for improving healthcare training and practice; however, the use of a preemie patient is new. 

“Working through stressful situations that accompany providing care for a 28-week-old baby can be practiced for the first time in a safe learning environment where no one gets hurt,” said Keesee.  “Practicing on a life-like and realistic simulator will provide parents and professionals time to develop and improve the skills necessary for the provision of perinatal care.  I also applaud TPA on their innovative concept of using a preemie-based simulator for parenting skills courses.  We look forward to hosting training for students, healthcare providers and parents on caring for the tiniest of patients.”

Pictured in photo are Jill Skaggs, Texas Perinatal Association board member (left) presenting check for purchase of perinatal manikin to Dr. Lea Keesee, director of the F. Marie Hall SimLife Center at Midland College.