Sim Simple
Charles Sturt University’s simulation labs are helping to train future paramedics without intervention.
15 November 2024
Text:/ Christopher Holder
Charles Sturt Uni’s Port Macquarie campus is going gangbusters. Its multipurpose campus opened in 2016 and it’s a beauty. And it’s only getting started. Further stages of the development are being worked on and more land is being secured to accommodate the year-on-year double-digit growth.
The campus has a formidable paramedicine program, with the facilities, assets (including an ambulance on site) and AV to back it up.
SIM SIMPLE
There are six simulation labs for the paramedic students. For years, we’ve known how useful sim labs are for assessing the skills of students in practical sciences such as paramedicine and nursing. But if the sim lab itself is designed well enough (read: ‘easy to use’), it can be just as serviceable throughout the rest of the semester. This is what Charles Sturt Uni has discovered. Students are booking the labs to test their skills and run scenarios, all without any assistance required from academic or AV staff. Sure, tech staff are required to set up the equipment initially, but from there… no nannying required.
DUMMY RUN
The AV design of the sim labs was David Stornmonth’s baby, who’s the Technical Officer (Audio Visual) across all the Charles Sturt University campuses. The integration was taken care of by ProAV Solutions (NSW).
“The session will always have an ‘operator’ in the control area,” explains David Stornmonth. “The operator acts as the patient. They can interact with the students and use the Biamp gooseneck microphone to speak through the mannequin.
“The AV in the room is controlled via a Crestron touchpanel. The operator can select and move the Sony EVI-H100S PTZ cameras, turn levels up/down and more.
“Behind the scenes a Biamp AudioFlex DSP and Blackmagic Videohub 20×20 switcher takes care of the audio and video routing for each room.
“Once configured, recordings go directly into an Epiphan Pearl 2, which students can then use to stream, save, or review. For assessments, recordings are retained to allow for any grading queries.”
Client Support Officer, Eric Donald-Kerr testifies to the ease of use: “The Crestron interface makes driving the sim lab straightforward. You can switch between cameras and inputs during recordings really easily. The Pearl 2 takes care of the rest. It’s intuitive enough that we rarely need to explain it to users.”
SET ’N’ FORGET
The streaming and recording features of the Epiphan Pearl 2 are central to the success of the Sim Labs. According to David Stornmouth it was an easy decision to specify the Pearls during the design phase:
“We avoid PC-based setups due to the IT maintenance burden. Appliances like the Pearls are reliable, and each room can operate independently, minimising risk of downtime across all the labs. I hate single points of failure!
“We found the Pearls to be easy to integrate and once commissioned they’re almost entirely hands-off.
“It’s been a highly successful deployment that’s kept up with the demand for the spaces. And with the huge growth in enrolments we’re only expecting things to get busier!”
AP Technologies (Epiphan): aptech.com.au
ProAV Solutions (Integrator): proavsolutions.com.au
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