Clovis Unified Patient Care Pathway students refine skills with new ambulance simulator

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new piece of equipment in the Clovis Unified School District is helping prepare Career Technical Education students for the real world.

An ambulance simulator is testing whether they can execute the skills they're learning while on the road.

Students in the Clovis North and Clovis East Patient Care Pathway are learning important skills.

Clovis East Instructor Dr. Kelly Eichmann says that includes CPR, intubation, and vital signs.

"So always in the CTE world, we're trying to really give students a hands on - real hands on experience." Eichmann said.

Now, a new piece of equipment is aiming to shake things up a bit and take student's skills to the next level.

An ambulance simulator allows students to practice loading up patients.

Once inside, the trailer is tilted up and down, left and right by staff outside to simulate driving down the road.

Senior Ariana Zamora wants to become a pediatric nurse and said it takes awhile to get used to the movement.

"It was a little scary, not gonna lie." Zamora said.

Four mounted cameras allow administrators to monitor what's happening inside.

And Ariana says she knows this is preparing her for her future.

"Doing the skills is one thing, but having to do the more moving, and then, like, moving where you don't know where you're gonna go is 10 times more difficult, and so it just takes practice and time, but having the ambulance simulator is really helpful." Zamora said.

Eichmann says programs like this, with tools like the ambulance simulator, help students make decision about their future careers.

"This equipment really gives us, gives a student, an opportunity to truly get a feel for 'Can I really do this? Is this really for me?'" Eichmann said.

Eichmann says along with being enrolled in two college courses, students are able to build their confidence an skills so they're prepared for college and career after high school.

"We want our students to be just a little ahead of the pack. And so without this type of equipment, without the investment from the community, from the school we can't do that." Eichmann said.

By the time students graduate high school they will be concussion certification, basic life support certification and they will have stop the bleed training.

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