“I can’t breathe, I can’t breath, help me.” This is what nearly 100 captivated community members, health care providers, and West Kentucky Community and Technical College students, faculty and staff heard during the open house of the college’s new Multidisciplinary Simulation Health Center on November 2.
“This is tremendous – what an opportunity to learn for students and the community,” said Jill Asher, Murray-Calloway County Hospital director of perioperative services. “You just can’t beat hands-on experience.”
More than 300 students will utilize the center in a variety of areas including surgical technology, radiography, diagnostic sonography, physical therapy assistant, respiratory care, pharmacy technician, and nursing.
“The simulation center replicates real-life scenarios in a risk free, supportive environment where the complexity of quality patient care can be created, identified and practiced,” said Shari Gholson, WKCTC dean of nursing. “Changes in patient conditions can be incorporated in real time, reflecting physiological changes just as they would occur in real patients.”
WKCTC sonography student Jessica Ward of Union City, TN, said the simulation center is providing her with training that can better prepare her for the future. “Being trained with real-life situations; learning different signs, symptoms and treatments for circumstances that can and do go wrong in the real world is a fantastic opportunity for us.”
Students participating in the open house simulation agreed. “We learn how important it is for everyone from each area to communicate and work together in a real-life chaotic situation,” said nursing student and Marshall County resident Gwen Bradley. Surgical technology student Erica Byrd of Paducah added, “It just doesn’t get much better than this until we get to work with human patients.”
The center, funded in part by the 2011 Aspen Institute prize for outstanding community and technical colleges, is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment including: six bay areas that house high to medium fidelity mannequins across the lifespan (two adults, two pediatrics, one birthing mother, full term newborn, and one premature infant of 26 weeks) a respiratory ventilator, digital radiography portable chest x-ray machine, diagnostic sonography imaging machines for obstetrics, electronic medication dispensing equipment, bedside electronic documentation system, bedside monitoring, and other technology currently used in health care delivery in the region.
“We are excited to partner with our area health care providers to provide opportunities to validate retained competency in practice across the health disciplines,” said Gholson. “Having our graduates trained through the simulation center in realistic scenarios will help to enhance patient safety and outcomes in our community.”
For more information about the Multidisciplinary Simulation Health Center, contact Shari Gholson at 270-534-3372 or shari.gholson@kctcs.edu.
“This is tremendous – what an opportunity to learn for students and the community,” said Jill Asher, Murray-Calloway County Hospital director of perioperative services. “You just can’t beat hands-on experience.”
More than 300 students will utilize the center in a variety of areas including surgical technology, radiography, diagnostic sonography, physical therapy assistant, respiratory care, pharmacy technician, and nursing.
“The simulation center replicates real-life scenarios in a risk free, supportive environment where the complexity of quality patient care can be created, identified and practiced,” said Shari Gholson, WKCTC dean of nursing. “Changes in patient conditions can be incorporated in real time, reflecting physiological changes just as they would occur in real patients.”
WKCTC sonography student Jessica Ward of Union City, TN, said the simulation center is providing her with training that can better prepare her for the future. “Being trained with real-life situations; learning different signs, symptoms and treatments for circumstances that can and do go wrong in the real world is a fantastic opportunity for us.”
Students participating in the open house simulation agreed. “We learn how important it is for everyone from each area to communicate and work together in a real-life chaotic situation,” said nursing student and Marshall County resident Gwen Bradley. Surgical technology student Erica Byrd of Paducah added, “It just doesn’t get much better than this until we get to work with human patients.”
The center, funded in part by the 2011 Aspen Institute prize for outstanding community and technical colleges, is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment including: six bay areas that house high to medium fidelity mannequins across the lifespan (two adults, two pediatrics, one birthing mother, full term newborn, and one premature infant of 26 weeks) a respiratory ventilator, digital radiography portable chest x-ray machine, diagnostic sonography imaging machines for obstetrics, electronic medication dispensing equipment, bedside electronic documentation system, bedside monitoring, and other technology currently used in health care delivery in the region.
“We are excited to partner with our area health care providers to provide opportunities to validate retained competency in practice across the health disciplines,” said Gholson. “Having our graduates trained through the simulation center in realistic scenarios will help to enhance patient safety and outcomes in our community.”
For more information about the Multidisciplinary Simulation Health Center, contact Shari Gholson at 270-534-3372 or shari.gholson@kctcs.edu.
For the second year in a row, Paducah’s Seniors Learning for Fun has provided a scholarship for students at West Kentucky Community and Technical College. 
McCracken County resident Amber’Lee Douglas was recently named Student Affairs Student of the Year at West Kentucky Community and Technical College.