The medical simulation lab in your university or training hospital is unlike any other system that makes up your AV infrastructure. It runs on a purpose-built computer with application-specific software, both of which require dedicated oversight and specialized training to manage properly. 

Placing your simulation lab under a managed services contract with Level 3 Audiovisual takes the burden off your IT department for monitoring and managing your specialized system. For a fixed monthly price, 100% of your support needs will be handled by the Level 3 Audiovisual team as soon as issues arise. In many cases, our team even finds and resolves malfunctions before they create a noticeable problem in your lab.

Keep reading to learn how your healthcare simulation lab in Los Angeles, CA, or elsewhere in the U.S. will benefit from managed services. 

Every part of healthcare training and delivery has its own tools of the trade. A doctor has to know their way around a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. And as a simulation technician, you need to know how to operate all the tools in your simulation lab, including audiovisual equipment and technology. But managing all that technology is no small feat, even for experienced sim techs. Here are some resources that can help.

The fanciest manikin and most up-to-date medical equipment won’t make much difference in your simulation center if you don’t have audio and video tools that allow students and teachers to communicate clearly during scenarios, as well as review and debrief scenarios once they are over. With the right planning, however, you can design and install AV systems that support and enhance simulation in your center. At Level 3 Audiovisual’s recent Simulation Operations Boot Camp Scott Atkinson, Director of Healthcare Simulation, outlined five things to consider before you start the AV design and engineering process for your simulation center.

Are you a simulation technician tasked with choosing new technology for your simulation lab? And are you feeling overwhelmed by the task? Don’t panic. Choosing the best equipment for your sim lab—and getting it for the best price—can be as simple as scoring the perfect vacuum on Black Friday. Maybe even easier, because you won’t have to fight anyone for the last item on the shelf. Keep reading for tips on what you should consider when choosing new sim lab tools—and why the process might be easier than you think.

Healthcare simulations are designed to prepare students for high-stakes medical situations. That means that while simulation exercises take place in a safe and controlled environment, they also need to replicate the chaos and urgency of a true medical emergency. When a “patient” codes or a barrage of trauma victims stretch participants to the limit, they’re learning about real-life stressors through healthcare simulation. One area of healthcare simulation that should be free from chaos and distraction, however, is the control room, where facilitators or simulation technicians monitor and run each scenario. Unfortunately, poor design and bad technology in your control room can create distractions that negatively impact simulations and learning. But good design and the right technology can help scenarios run smoothly and improve participants’ experience. Keep reading to learn more about control room distractions and solutions to prevent them.

When you think of simulation centers, audiovisual may not be your first thought. But AV is as integral to the success of simulation centers as the life-like manikins receiving CPR. Virtually every aspect of learning—from recording scenarios to sharing video from vital sign monitors to enabling instructors and students to communicate from different rooms—relies on heavily integrated AV systems. Yet many healthcare simulation solution providers focus solely on simulation technology and outsource the AV design and installation to someone else. This approach leaves the door open for a lot of messy—and often expensive—complications. Without the right level of cooperation between the simulation and AV teams, you risk getting AV tools that can’t integrate with the simulation technology or AV tools that don’t meet your needs at all.

Simulation labs are a growing part of healthcare training and education programs, but simulation lab managers still face some challenges when it comes to hiring the right staff, raising the necessary funding, and purchasing the right equipment, among other things. In the final recap of Level 3 Audiovisual's recent webinar, “15 Challenges in Healthcare Simulation and How to Conquer Them,” The Director of Healthcare Simulation at Level 3 Audiovisual, offers some insight for simulation lab managers to resolve their most common obstacles and frustrations. If you missed the first two recaps that focus on challenges faced by sim techs themselves, you can find them here and here.

There are plenty of good things about getting bigger and stronger but—whether it’s a person, a company or an industry—it can come with growing pains, and healthcare simulation is no exception. As the industry expands and the technology gets more advanced, there are both opportunities to take advantage of and pitfalls to watch out for. The simulation experts at Level 3 Audiovisual recently hosted a webinar, “15 Challenges in Healthcare Simulation and How to Conquer Them,” that outlined some of the most common issues simulation technicians confront, as well as some best practices to help deal with them. Keep reading to take a deeper dive into the first five challenges they discussed and stay tuned for additional blogs in the coming weeks that will address additional content from the webinar.