The Emergency Services are pivotal in making sure that Great Britain remains resilient and prepared to cope with any disaster imaginable, whether that is natural, or man-made. The recent terror attacks in London and Manchester, and the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower highlighted once again the fantastic work done by professionals who save lives; at times putting themselves in the way of danger.
Such a timely, thorough and coordinated response of course doesn’t simply happen by chance. Behind every life saved are countless hours, weeks, months and years of training, learning, and practicing of the skills necessary.
The general public see the end result, but are often oblivious to the constant preparation behind the scenes. As a supplier of training manikins, we at Ruth Lee have a very different perspective and are committed to helping you to create training which will prepare your teams for whatever life has to throw at you!
The most effective training simulates different scenarios as realistically as possible.
These days, most search and rescue training (including casualty evacuation) involves the use of manikins – not least for H&S compliance reasons. Choosing the right size, weight and type of manikin to use is one of the keys to effective training.
With this in mind, we have taken a look at a few possible scenarios and suggested manikins to help you train for these.
Training Scenario 1: There is a house fire and neighbours say there is child inside
The Solution: Fire House Manikin – available in Baby, Toddler, Youth and Adult sizes
If you want to carry out live fire training, the only manikin to consider is our Fire House Manikin. For this scenario, we would suggest using a toddler or youth manikin for the correct weight and proportions.
It will easily withstand temperatures of around 160°C at floor level (400°C at the ceiling!) for a prolonged period of time and was designed with BA snatch rescue training in mind.
Training Scenario 2: Someone calls an ambulance to say there is an obese casualty trapped in an upstairs bedroom
The Solution: Bariatric Manikin
Co-responders will benefit from training with our Bariatric range of manikins, which weigh in at 90, 180 and 260kg. Our 90kg manikin is perfect where you require the bulk of a bariatric, without too much excessive weight for your training. We are also excited to launch our innovative Water-fillable Bariatric Suit, which allows you to place a lighter weight manikin in position and then add the required weight into a specially designed suit.
Training Scenario 3: There has been a road traffic collision and someone requires immediate CPR
The Solution: Full-bodied CPR Manikin
Our Full-bodied CPR Manikin allows you to create a more realistic training scenario where you first need to rescue a casualty from a confined space and then perform CPR. The manikin is realistically weighted providing the challenge of extricating the casualty from the vehicle, and includes a CPR torso with correct anatomical features.
Training Scenario 4: There has been heavy rainfall overnight and flash flooding has affected a village – you can see that someone is being swept away in the fast-moving water
The Solution: Man Overboard Manikin
Swift water rescues are dangerous and unpredictable – training with a manikin allows you to see where people would flow naturally in currents and perfect your rescue techniques if someone is swept downstream.
The Man Overboard manikin is a popular model which is designed to float. The careful balance between weight and buoyancy means that it rests at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with just the head and shoulders visible above the surface.
Training Scenario 5: A bus has crashed into railings and the driver is impaled
The Solution: Multi Trauma Manikin
Our Multi Trauma manikin is the ideal choice for this scenario. They are made to simulate a seriously injured casualty and come complete with a detachable arm and leg, plus a cavity in the chest to let you create an impalement.
You can remove the arm or leg completely or leave them partially attached to encourage correct patient care…handle them in the wrong way and your casualty has just lost a limb!
Training Scenario 6: There has been a large scale terrorist attack and there are multiple victims
The Solution: Mass Casualty Manikin
Depending on the training, you will sometimes be required to set up a scenario where there are a large number of casualties which need to be seen, but not necessarily handled. The Mass Casualty Manikins is lightweight and cost effective – we also leave them undressed so that you can dress them appropriately for your own training scenario.
There really is a manikin for every training scenario! We have a wide range of manikins available – over 60 different models. There is no limit to the training scenario you can create – a little imagination goes a long way and we are happy to offer advice to you before purchase to ensure that you have the best possible manikin for your training.
You might also want to consider using Fire Simulation to create a truly memorable and realistic training scenario. For a relatively small investment you can create a training scenario which is much more representative of what you might face in real life. We can supply a range of fire simulation products including smoke machines, explosion simulators, sound boxes – even burning smell aerosols! Click HERE for more information.
Call today on 01490 413 282 or email mail@ruthlee.co.uk