UT Tyler launches helicopter critical care simulation center

The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler) School of Nursing has announced the opening of a new Helicopter Critical Care Transport Simulation Center.

The center, which will allow the US university to train nurses and paramedics in the skill of critical care transportation, features a clinical flight simulator with a Metro Aviation-donated BK117 airframe.

Simulator training will be used as part of a wider range of educational techniques, including online lectures, exams, assignments, and skills and simulation training.

“As far as I’m aware, this is the only flight program in the nation that includes this depth of instruction and breadth of clinical rotations – and the only of its kind that trains both paramedics and nurses,” said Dr Carlton Rojas, Critical Care Transportation Education Director at the UT Tyler School of Nursing. “This program will revolutionize the way we train our flight crews, throughout the region, the state, and the nation.”

Dr Jenifer Chilton, Dean of the UT Tyler School of Nursing, added that the new center would support critical care air ambulance provision in the surrounding East Texas area, in which 56% of residents live in rural areas.

She explained: “By launching this simulation center, we are not just advancing nursing education; we are directly responding to the unique geographic challenges of our region and ensuring that our neighbors in even the most rural areas have access to the highest level of critical care.”

Luxembourg’s Aquarius Aerial Firefighting recently opened a new simulation and training facility of its own.