HOUSTON –  (Mar. 11, 2010) – Today, members of Houston’s City Council visited the Pediatric Simulation Center at Texas Children’s Hospital, a state-of-the-art facility where health care professionals can train for real-life pediatric crises using high-tech mannequins, role-playing, observation and debriefing. For more information about Texas Children’s Hospital’s Simulation Center, please visit http://bit.ly/cCmfV3.

Council members Anne Clutterback, Wanda Adams and C.O. Bradford toured the 8,000 square foot facility, witnessed the simulated delivery of a baby and had the opportunity to give hands-on care to the center’s virtual patients. The tour, opened to all city council members, was followed by a reception at Treviso’s where Mayor Annise Parker and Council member Stephen Costello joined.

The innovative center, which opened in November 2009, is the only one of its kind in Houston and one of the largest among the few pediatric simulation centers in the nation.

Programs at the Simulation Center focus on both technical skill such as CPR or bag mask ventilation and complex communication between multidisciplinary teams. Training exercises prepare individuals to handle events in a coordinated and effective manner in order to bridge the gap between different departments that don’t work together on a day-to-day basis, but may come together in crisis situations. From EMT professionals to nurse practitioners and anesthesiologists, groups in the training program work together in simulated, critical medical events as varied as a patient experiencing cardiac arrest to a fire in the operating room.

“The experience of simulation allows for such an advanced level of training and helps ensure that we are truly prepared to work together as a highly-coordinated team for every patient who needs our help,” said Jennifer Arnold, M.D. and medical director of the Simulation Center. “It was great to have members of Houston’s City Council join us to experience the learning that is taking place at our center."

About Texas Children’s Hospital Simulation Center
The Simulation Center at Texas Children’s Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility where healthcare teams are trained in the management of rare, complex, and complicated patient care events through a simulated clinical environment. As the only center of its kind in Texas, and one of the largest among the few pediatric simulation centers in the United States, the Pediatric Simulation Center at Texas Children’s Hospital is committed to using simulation education as a teaching tool to save lives and improve patient care and safety. For more information, visit the Pediatric Simulation Center.

About Texas Children’s Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital is committed to a community of healthy children by providing the finest pediatric patient care, education and research. Renowned worldwide for its expertise and breakthrough developments in clinical care and research, Texas Children's is nationally ranked in all ten subspecialties in U.S. News & World Report's list of America's Best Children's Hospitals. Texas Children's also operates the nation's largest primary pediatric care network, with over 40 offices throughout the greater Houston community. Texas Children's has embarked on a $1.5 billion expansion, Vision 2010, which includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, a comprehensive obstetrics facility focusing on high-risk births and a community hospital in suburban West Houston. For more information on Texas Children's Hospital, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news from Texas Children’s Hospital by visiting the online newsroom and on Twitter at twitter.com/tch_news.