When you first step inside Northeast Georgia Health System’s (NGHS) mobile simulation lab, you feel like you’re in a hospital instead of a bus. Simulated clinical settings like the mobile simulation lab allow people to practice critical medical skills in a safe learning environment. Purchased with funds raised from the NGHS Foundation’s 2018 Medical Center Open golf tournament, the mobile simulation lab has improved inpatient and outpatient safety outcomes in northeast Georgia by improving accessibility to simulation training.
Karen Baston, the co-chair of the 2018 Medical Center Open, clearly remembers the check for $320,000 that was raised during that year’s golf tournament specifically for the mobile simulation lab.
“We really chose that, the committee chose that, [the mobile simulation lab] because it really benefited the outlying communities. Not only the [medical] providers but the residents of those communities. I do remember quite explicitly the check that we presented at the end, which was more than we’d ever raised, was $320,000.” she said.
The mobile simulation lab travels to high schools, universities, EMS departments and other institutions throughout northeast Georgia to provide quality medical education to outlying communities and to enhance emergency preparedness.
“It has been very beneficial to our department,” said Keith Freeman, Banks County fire & EMS training officer. “The bus was able to provide a lot of realistic equipment.”
Banks County is one of many northeast Georgia counties the mobile simulation lab has traveled to, including Dawson, Lumpkin, Stephens, White, Barrow, Union, Jackson and Forsyth counties.
Since the mobile simulation lab was first used in December 2020, over 1,100 people, from high school and nursing students to EMS personnel, have practiced medical skills like resuscitation and bleed control within its walls. Through every individual, the mobile simulation lab equips people to better meet their communities’ healthcare needs.
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To make a donation or learn more about the NGHS Foundation, its events and other ways to give, visit www.nghs.com/foundation.