Beep…beep…beep. That’s the sound of the new HST mannequin fighting for its life. It lays completely still as students perform CPR on it. It does not complain. It will not fight. It cannot cry. It is one of the best ways for medical students to practice CPR and first aid without having an actual, dying human being. The new HST teachers are excited to have this mannequin as it opens up a new way of learning the things they lecture about.

“The mannequin allows students into a situation that they’re not ever going to be in until they’re professionals,” said HST instructor Ryan Hunter. The mannequin does everything. It can breathe and has a heartbeat, and students can either save it or let it die. Having this mannequin means that students can perform the first aid that they might have to perform in their careers without repercussions. If the mannequin dies, the HST teachers simply bring it back to life and the student continues to practice until they can treat the mannequin without letting it die.

The mannequin was given to North Garland by the district. School board member Larry Glick saw the mannequin at a school in another district and thought that North Garland should have one as well. The school received the mannequin at the end of last school year and the HST teachers have tried it out. According to Hunter, it was “money well spent.”

“The mannequin has vital signs [that] will change based on the scenario that was programmed into the mannequin,” says Hunter. It will respond to any disaster given to it, and the students must use their training to save it. If the student is not taking proper care of it, the mannequin will respond like a human being, shown through its heartbeat and breathing. Hunter breaks it down by simply stating, “The fate of that patient is in your hands.”

One of the things the HST teachers are happy about is that students will get a chance to practice on the next best thing from a human. Students can accidently perform the wrong procedure, but no human life is at risk. It is a safe, easy way to train on how professionals in the medical field would respond to a disaster without smothering out a life. It is not enough for teachers to stand and lecture about how to perform first aid. This mannequin provides experience.

“You get a hands on opportunity that no textbook will ever give you,” Hunter said.