Faulkner State Community College’s nursing program has brought to life the dangers of texting while driving to local high school students.  By means of the iStan human simulator, senior nursing students were able to re-enact an accident involving a teenage crash victim.

“The impact on the seniors is very evident,” says Jean Graham, Director of Nursing and Allied Health at the College. “They walk away saying ‘wow, that was so real.’”

Nursing Students tend to iStan

This human-like simulator allows the students to check for consciousness, vital signs, and even internal bleeding.  iStan has the capabilities of simulating moving, breathing, talking, living and even dying.  During this particular simulation, the victim expires and the Faulkner State students even demonstrate post-mortem procedures.

While the first simulation took place April 6, the Nursing Department will host another simulation for high school students on April 27 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the Fairhope Campus in the John L. Borom Center of Health and Natural Sciences.

By using iStan to showcase such a detrimental incident, the Nursing Department has hopes that these young students will see first-hand how a simple text can change a life.

iStan can simulate everything from breathing to moving to living to dying

The iStan simulator was added to the College in Fall 2010 on the Fairhope Campus.

“iStan allows the instructors to integrate content learned in the classroom with life-like scenarios while being in a controlled setting,” Graham said. “By using simulated scenarios, faculty are able to determine each student’s critical thinking skills, and can work with those students in areas they are weak.”

All in all, iStan is programmed to respond to 71 different medications and more than 100 possible scenarios.  The “Texting While Driving” scenario is an example of how customized the instructors can make the simulations.

Anyone interested in the simulation on April 27 may contact the Nursing Department at 251-580-2257.

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