Since 2006, Banner Health has been investing in and using simulation-education training as way to improve patient safety.

In designing our simulation-education network, Banner Health studied the aviation industry's use of simulation and team training to achieve one of the highest safety rates of any industry in the world. Research now shows physicians trained with simulators learn procedures 30 percent faster and are six times less likely to have intra-operative errors.

At the Banner Simulation System, there are a variety of ways simulation education can be used to strengthen patient care:

• Emergency care: Computerized mannequins are used to simulate emergency room and trauma scenarios.
• Surgery: Virtual-reality devices (similar to video games) can help surgeons learn the latest techniques and tools, especially in laproscopic and minimally invasive procedures.
• Teamwork: The mannequins are also used to train hospital code teams, who work in different parts of the hospital but who must come together and work in unison to treat a patient whose heart has stopped.
• Common procedures: All types of health care providers can practice and perfect commonly used procedures such as inserting chest tubes or central lines.
• Labor and delivery: The Banner Simulation System  has mannequins who give birth to a baby after a simulated labor, complete with programmable complications.