French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), a member of Dignity Health, which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital (AGCH) and Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), is proud to announce the addition of a unique obstetric simulator to its health care education program. Coco is a lifelike full-body manikin that simulates pregnancy and will help train medical personnel in various pregnancy and birth scenarios. Coco will provide realistic, risk-free experience to the staff that wasn’t previously possible.
Coco, who can be adjusted to simulate the different stages of pregnancy and birth, provides a wide range of possible patient scenarios, which will allow for the practice of multiple procedures that are essential to maternal and obstetric care. Nurses and other professional staff can now develop their skills in pregnancy check-up methods, delivery positions and maneuvers, and even communication and teamwork. The manikin is so realistic that it even has a heartbeat sound generator that will provide experience with monitoring of the fetal heartbeat.
“Having this opportunity to educate our staff in such a realistic, hands-on setting will be particularly advantageous,” said Carla Adams, CNE and CNO at French. “We are proud to have this technology that will help our employees provide the best possible care to our patients.”
Coco is made possible by the generous donation of James Flanagan, a retired Cal Poly professor and former FHMC patient. Flanagan has made similar donations in the past, including one in April 2012 that funded the purchase of the SimMan, a realistic, full-body male patient simulator that has been providing training and education to our staff for over a year. Now with the SimMan and Coco together, area clinicians will get an outstanding amount of realistic experience.
For more information on Coco or FHMC, contact Megan Maloney at 805-542-6498. For additional information regarding the FHMC Foundation, or to make a donation, call 805-542-6496 or visit www.supportfrenchhospital.org.