French Hospital Medical Center Incorporates New Birthing Manikin for Labor and Delivery Training

SimMom is a highly advanced, anatomically accurate manikin simulator used for instructional training in women's health care.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – March 2 2018 – French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), a Dignity Health Central Coast hospital, is pleased to announce it has incorporated a new advanced labor and delivery simulation manikin to the the James R. Flanagan Simulation Learning Center, located inside the Copeland Health Education Pavilion. The SimMom is an interactive birthing manikin with accurate anatomy and functionality to create realistic medical scenarios for obstetric training and birth management.  

The SimMom has been affectionately named Candy by the FHMC staff. Candy can simulate all stages of labor, various medical emergencies, and high-risk incidents, allowing health care providers to prepare for critical events and save lives. The manikin can be manually configured by an instructor to simulate breathing, cardiac rhythms, blood pressure and circulation, pelvic configurations, neuromuscular settings, and more. Patient monitors display vital signs, waveforms, and numerics, just like a real patient would display. An easy-to-use ultrasound simulation is also integrated into the manikin.  

Candy joins the manikin family to improve our educational resources and training programs for health care professionals. The manikin family includes the adult male SimMan “Jimmy,” the adult female manikin Coco, the pediatric manikin Junior, and the SimNewB newborn Holly Noel. Typically found only at educational medical facilities and institutions, such patient simulators offer active training and education for our hospital employees.

“With the addition of this birthing simulator manikin, we are able to provide critical hands-on training which is invaluable to our staff,” says Alan Iftiniuk, FHMC President and CEO. “We are proud to offer this exceptional teaching tool.”

The acquisition of Candy, along with the manikin family, was made possible by former FHMC patient, James Flanagan. Flanagan has worked with FHMC medical personnel to identify this specific program as a means of providing leading-edge technology to our San Luis Obispo campus. 

“Candy will help our physicians, midwives, nurses, and technicians practice and develop their perinatal safety skills,” says Jill Urmy, MSN/RN, Central Coast Clinical Educator. “This addition to the manikin family will provide opportunities to perfect procedures and maneuvers to prepare for obstetrical and neonatal emergency situations.”

The manikin family will be used for trainings throughout the year, including quarterly refreshers with the medical staff and emergency department physicians. To learn more about the new SimMom, click here. To learn more about our Copeland Health Education Pavilion and our simulation lab, click here. 

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About French Hospital Medical Center
French Hospital Medical Center, located in San Luis Obispo, California, is rated one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the nation and one of the Top 50 Cardiac Hospitals in the nation by Thomson Reuters.  The Copeland, Forbes, and Rossi Cardiac Care Center provides the latest innovative cardiac and imaging technology on the Central Coast. The hospital’s current modernization and redesign project is an example of the commitment to meet the growing needs of the community with lifesaving advancements in medicine coupled with excellent, compassionate care. The hospital is home to the unique Hearst Cancer Resource Center offering free education, resources and support to cancer patients and their families.  French is a Dignity Health member of the Central Coast which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, CA and Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, CA. Dignity Health of the Central Coast is an integrated network of top quality hospitals, physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services including primary care offices, premier ambulatory surgery centers, technologically-advanced laboratories and imaging centers and a full service home health agency; all recognized for quality, safety and service.  Each hospital is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities.