| Welcome to the Summer 2022 edition of the quarterly Bariquins‘ newsletter |
In this newsletter: Case Study with West Midlands Ambulance Service Partnering with Sim & Skills, Experts in Medical Simulation Barry & Benny’s Round-Up Please scroll down for all the details. |
Case Study with West Midlands Ambulance Service  How West Midlands Ambulance Service Uses Bariquins To Solve Their Bariatric Training Needs West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust, or WMAS for short, serves a population of 5.6 million people in the Midlands area of England. With an average of 28% of adults in England living with obesity, this means WMAS potentially has over 1.5 million people living with obesity within their area. Aside from the emergency and non-emergency duties an ambulance service usually provides, WMAS also run The National Academy, a facility for ambulance-based training. The Care Quality Commission, the health and social care regulator in England, rates WMAS as ‘outstanding’. What Problems Were WMAS Staff and Recruits Facing? Teaching new skills to recruits and ensuring current personnel receive regular training is key to the professionalism of any organisation. This applies whether the training is mandatory or is required to keep up to date with any relevant developments or practices. For WMAS, lack of a suitable means to provide realistic training scenarios for moving and handling people living with obesity, was a concern, given the regularity of bariatric callouts that they receive. As Adam Joynes of the WMAS National Academy explains “Prior to having any Bariquin products our staff were unable to experience the simulated size and weight of a bariatric patient. We previously used other products, however, they didn’t effectively simulate a bariatric patient.” Kieran Kennedy, Education & Training Manager at The National Academy, agreed with the limitations, saying that previously they had used “A weighted manikin, that was only capable of being lifted from a lying position, it was non-adjustable in respect of weight and shape.” Others had been forced to try a make-do approach. Ben Pallante of WMAS HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) said that their attempt at getting around the inadequacy, was “Mainly to add additional mannequins or weight to the equipment to make it real, failing that we would use a couple of staff, which isn’t great.” The shortfall meant Ben and his colleagues were unable to train with a good level of realism. And realism is necessary as WMAS HART continually support their colleagues on traditional ambulances during every shift due to patients requiring specialist bariatric equipment or skills. How Did WMAS Address the Problems? Following research into understanding the requirements that a bariatric mannequin needed to fulfil, WMAS selected Bariquins for their training. As Kieran Kennedy of The Training Academy explains “The adaptability and manoeuvrability met the needs of our department”. His colleague Adam Joynes agreed, saying the Bariquin “is the only one I could find that meets our requirements. We love the fact it is modular, which helps us place the manikin into different training scenarios. It provides our staff/students with realistic sizes and weights of bariatric patients.” Ban Pallante from WMAS HART stated they purchased the Bariquin for their team “Based on the course & the fact Bariquin is modular, stores a lot better than the other mannequins and is more realistic.” How Have The Bariquins Mannequins Helped WMAS? WMAS have been more than happy with their decisions to purchase Bariquins. The advantages go beyond just providing realism for their training scenarios. As Kieran Kennedy details “The manoeuvrability and storage affords us the option of moving these manikins to a range of different sites easily. The ability to alter weight and size and shape of the manikin, affords the learner with a better sensory, theoretical and practical understanding of how to handle larger patients.” Ben Pallante is pleased too. When asked about how the Bariquin has helped, he replied “A lot, we are regularly using the Bariquin and we are putting him into a variety of different situations and circumstances to make our training more realistic.” For Adam Joynes, he praised the decisions that WMAS made when buying the Bariquins as well, adding “Our recent purchases have enabled us to get both Barry and Benny – meeting the requirements for equality and inclusion. It also allows us to simulate and test our current equipment.” With their CQC rating already ‘outstanding’, WMAS are maintaining their superior standards. They are ensuring this by providing their current and future staff with the best levels of teaching, training and professionalism. This can only be of benefit for the people that West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust serve. By simulating the scenarios that they are likely to face, their training prepares WMAS for real situations that they can then deal with efficiently and professionally.“The manikin is the only one I could find that meets our requirements. We love the fact it is modular, which helps us place the manikin into different training scenarios.”With thanks to West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust, in particular: Ben Pallante (Hazardous Area Response Team Support Manager at West Midlands Ambulance Service) Kieran Kennedy (Education & Training Manager at West Midlands Ambulance Service, The National Academy) Adam Joynes (Post Qualification Manager & Safeguarding Lead at West Midlands Ambulance Service, The National Academy) |
Partnering with Sim & Skills, Experts in Medical Simulation  Bariquins are now partnering with Sim & Skills. If you’re not aware of Sim & Skills, they are experts in medical simulation and clinical skills. Sim & Skills can advise you on everything from choosing the best value simulator to measuring impact on patient safety and return on investment. As well as providing our Bariquin mannequins, Sim & Skills provide simulators for medical, nursing, and allied health professional education. They offer a comprehensive range of products from many of the biggest and best healthcare simulation companies in the world.As a result of our partnership with Sim & Skills, using Bariquins now enables more realistic training scenarios. As well as experiencing the physical elements of moving and handling a person living with obesity, with the equipment supplied by Sim & Skills, you can now simulate the medical issues associated with obesity within those scenarios. That’s achieved by varying the breathing rate, heartbeat, blood pressure or other readings on their simulators, either separately or in combination, producing a high quality teaching and learning environment for healthcare personnel. If you would like more details about the Equipment Sim & Skills can provide or want information on our Bariquins, please contact us at enquiries@bariquins.com |
 Barry & Benny’s Round-Up In this regular section, we look at news and other pieces of interest that have occurred since the last newsletter. ———————————————– Headlines, reports and articles from around the world that have caught our attention recently are given below: Starting with how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting matters concerning obesity: Reports that the pandemic may have pushed millions more into obesity in a ‘perfect storm’. Details here. A new study of Long Covid patients with obesity reports that they are more likely to suffer for longer, as reported here. And to make matters worse, a new study says that obesity causes COVID vaccines to lose their efficacy more rapidly. See here. Moving to the extrication of people living with obesity, Reports show that UK fire crews dealt with a record 1,640 calls for ‘bariatric rescues’ for people trapped in their homes last year, as shown here. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service have reported a 640% increase in the last two years for bariatric rescues, as shown here. And over in France, a tenant living with obesity was extricated through the window with the help of their local fire and rescue service. See here. ———————————————– Here’s the latest Health Survey for England (2019), detailing adult obesity in England. Follow the link here. And for the latest on obesity around the world, take your pick from: The worsening obesity ‘epidemic’ in Europe Including Greece, Denmark or Malta Or further afield in Oman, South Korea, The Philippines, South Africa or The USA ———————————————– Until the next newsletter, Stay Safe and Healthy. |
