Extron contributes to training in Wake Tech simulation rooms

Switching systems, distribution, AV and audio control Extron set up medical emergency services simulation rooms (WHICH) to train technicians on this North American campus.

Wake Technical Community College, in North Carolina (EU), It is the largest community institution in the state, to which some go 70.000 students. In Perry Health Sciences Campus, Students take courses for certification as health emergency technicians (TES) and paramedics.

The course includes intensive scenario-based training using simulation equipment of the latest technology to master practical skills and critical thinking as vital elements in the intervention protocol, diagnosis and treatment of patients in emergency and trauma situations.

The so-called Health Sciences Building B includes a simulation room medical emergency services (WHICH) prepared as if it were an apartment: with kitchen, living room, room and bathroom with high-fidelity medical mannequins that instructors control from an adjacent control room.

Instructors create emergency scenarios, they supervise them, direct and critically analyze the actions of TES and paramedicine students through a direct observation window, as well as video and audio, live or recorded, which is transmitted from multiple cameras.

Besides, Video and audio of simulation sessions are recorded and sent via streaming to display during briefings, as well as so that it can be evaluated by students and instructors of remote classes in real time.

Wake Tech IT and AV staff designed the simulation room AV system, while Inter Technologies carried out the installation and commissioning of the system, who selected the switching systems, distribution, AV and audio control Extron.

A large part of the budget for the simulation room was allocated to its construction and the acquisition of the patient simulation system, including several full body mannequins (adults, children and obstetrics) that are remotely controlled with software capable of presenting a wide set of clinical symptoms and vital signs under different programmable scenarios.

The audiovisual system is as important as the simulation system, as it records and streams video and audio events of training sessions for real-time analysis and observation by instructors and students, and is robust enough to support this important training mission, with simple operation.

To capture all activities during training exercises, Each of the four simulation spaces is equipped with a PTZ camera on the wall and a hanging microphone beamtracking on the roof. A switching matrix DXP84 HD 4K Plus route HDMI video from the cameras.

The microphones in the simulation room, plus the one in the instructor's control room, transmitted to a digital audio distribution system that performs routing, plus digital signal processing to direct acoustic emission and acoustic echo cancellation.

Two of the video matrix switcher's HDMI outputs connect to a media processor for streaming, con SMP dual recording 352 from two simulation rooms simultaneously, which also receives analog audio from the audio DSP.

Recordings from the processor are played back for analysis to help students and instructors evaluate performance and learning., which are saved in the internal memory and on USB flash drives.

For greater realism, only the student TES team that is present at a real rescue is the one that is normally in a simulation room caring for a 'patient'. Yes ok, SMP streaming outputs 352 can be sent over the network to additional classes, or even over the Internet by a software codec such as Zoom.

Real-time view

The simulation room AV system is equipped with six 55” flat screens (one of them located in the additional class) that offer observers an overview of the activity on each 'patient' in each space.

For example, in living room settings, the display device is above the foot of the sofa on which the 'patient' is lying on his back. There are two screens in the room, one above the bed where an adult mannequin rests and, the other, above a crib in which there is a child mannequin.

All six displays show the same PTZ camera feed, as selected in the control room. The matrix switcher routes the HDMI video output to a DTP HD DA8 4K distribution amplifier 230, which extends signal over long distances via DTP twisted pair cable to displays, after which a receptor DTP HDMI 4K 230 Rx which converts the signal from DTP to HDMI.

To accompany video displayed on 55” displays, the sounds captured by the ceiling microphones in simulation rooms are routed to the simulation rooms' ceiling speakers.

The AV control processor ensures that the sound heard from the speakers is from the same room that is being displayed on the display devices, so that the audio routing selects the microphone of the same room as the PTZ camera chosen at that moment.

The sound from the selected microphone is also heard in the control room through a pair of SM speakers 3, that work through the stereo outputs of a MPA amplifier 152 Plus, to receive audio DSP input.

From the control room, Instructors and their assistants can control the AV system and run simulation scenarios from a single operator position. a laptop, placed in front of the instructor, runs the simulation software Laerdal Medical Corporation, creators of medical mannequins.

This software can use pre-programmed simulation scenarios, or have the instructor activate the mannequins on the fly, with physiological parameter settings to initiate patterns and record actions.

A 24” touch screen, located on the instructor's desk in the control room, It is used to control the AV system. Wake Tech team designed the AV control GUI, while Inter Technologies configured the control system using Extron Global Configurator Professional.

A processor control IP Link IPCP Pro 350 sends commands to all AV system components through a network switch. The AV control user interface on the touch screen is implemented through a control unit. interfaz TouchLink TLI Pro 101, to display live HDMI video from simulation room PTZ cameras within the AV control GUI.

As he assures Jennifer Unites, head of academic computing at Wake Tech: “I'm glad that the school is almost 100% Extron, and that everyone on the AV team has one or more certifications from this manufacturer, whose team has been incredibly helpful in assisting in the design of the SEM simulation room with a solution that met all of our objectives.”.