Introducing SimBaby

A visit by a leading paediatrician is being used as an opportunity to formally present a remarkable training aid to Wanganui health professionals next week.
The occasion is the annual Porritt Lecture, organised by the Wanganui Medical and Research Foundation next Wednesday.
But before the 7pm lecture in the Wanganui Racecourse Eulogy Lounge, there will be a demonstration of the SimBaby advanced life support simulator by Wanganui Hospital staff.
The demonstration will mark the end of 18 months of fundraising for the simulator that has taken place across the community and raised about $150,000.
Dr David Montgomery, head of paediatrics at Wanganui Hospital, said the SimBaby and its companion mannequin called SimNewbie,would be used to help healthcare professionals in Wanganui and further afield practise their abilities and skills in dealing with emergencies involving young children.
"It's the most advanced training aid of its sort in the world, Dr Montgomery said.
"The regular training for clinical staff using advanced simulators like SimBaby has become the gold standard for ensuring that children, who are critically ill or injured, receive the highest quality of expert emergency care.
"Dealing with emergencies is not only about knowledge and skill. It's also about team work and the optimal use of the available resources."
Dr Montgomery said training with high-tech, computer-linked mannequins would help medical, nursing and paramedic staff perform at their best when real emergencies occurred.
"Emergencies involving children and babies are common. Serious illness and injuries occur frequently in the early years, and require expert care in order to ensure the best possible outcome," he said.
He said similar training courses were not readily available elsewhere in New Zealand.
"SimBaby will form part of a local training centre which will help establish Wanganui as a centre of excellence for advanced life support training. The training unit at Wanganui Hospital aspires to be the best in the world at what they do," Dr Montgomery said.
He said the SimBaby project was still alive as they had another $15,000 they needed to buy a defibrillator, laryngoscopes and other equipment needed to run the courses on a regular basis.
He said he had a vision for an expanded training centre at Wanganui Hospital which would require a separate fundraising effort.
"But I see SimBaby as the flagship and the catalyst for this," Dr Montgomery said.
The annual Porritt Lecture on Wednesday night will be presented by Professor Innes Asher, a respiratory specialist and head of the paediatrics department at the Auckland School of Medicine.
Prof Asher will talk about improving the poor health outcomes for children in this country and what can be done to achieve that.
Public are invited to attend both the SimBaby demonstration, and the Porritt Lecture. Admission costs $20 and includes finger food and a complimentary drink, and money raised will go toward maintaining SimBaby.
The lecture is named after Baron Lord Arthur Porritt, the Wanganui-born surgeon, soldier, Olympic athlete and former Governor General, who delivered the first Porritt Lecture in 1965.