NORFOLK, Va. — The students in the Veterinary Technology Program at Tidewater Community College now have a new innovative tool to help them learn how to do surgery on animals who are under anesthesia.
The program's new immersive anesthesia simulation now features canine simulator, Diesel. He breathes, has a heartbeat and responds to the surgical process in real time.
Medical training programs have used patient simulators for decades, but that option hasn't always existed for future veterinarians.
Military officials use canine simulators, like Diesel, to train on the battlefield.
"You can attach an amputated leg to his body, and he can bleed out of the leg and you have to tourniquet it. He's got multiple wounds and lacerations that you can make appear," said Noah Meyers, Clinical Vet Tech Instructor at TCC.
The anesthesia simulation at Tidewater Community College is the first of its kind in the region.
The new simulator allows students to learn outside of a lecture hall and immerse themselves in an operating room.
"Being able to see the patient take a breath and that being reflected on the screen is so incredibly helpful for us," said Lily Wilkinson, a vet tech student. "You're able to see the oxygen concentration, literally everything that you would see on a normal patient you can do on him, which is so helpful and really interesting."
"But me personally, still in the program, I'm very nervous about protocols and when something happens with the patient, I don't want to say I freeze, but I definitely look to my vet tech, like his heart rate is low, what do I do next? So, I would say that this simulation definitely helped," said TCC student Cameron.
Cameron and Lily are both set to graduate from the Tidewater Community College Veterinary Technology program next summer.