PORTSMOUTH, Va.  –   PORTSMOUTH, Va. (Dec. 6, 2021) – Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) Healthcare Simulation and Bioskills Training Center (HSBTC) was recently granted reaccreditation in the areas of core and research by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), and received a Defense Health Agency (DHA) award for combat trauma care.

The Simulation Center’s mission is to provide high-quality, customer-center healthcare simulation and tissue-based training to advance readiness and value through enhanced medical education and patient safety. They do this through three primary lines of operation: Graduate Medical Education Support, Patient Safety/Skills Sustainment Initiatives, and Combat Casualty Care training.

“What was great about preparing for this, we were able to look at our own policies, procedures, standard operating procedures, mission and vision and found them to reflect the values of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare,” said Cmdr. Chris Smith, HSBTC acting director. “It really showed the preparedness of the team, and you could tell everybody was ready and that they really wanted to shine.”

To show on-scene fleet support, HSBTC ran mass casualty drills and supported the certification of Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 2 aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), certification of FST 4 aboard USS Arlington (LPD 24) and Casualty Receiving & Treatment Ship 3 (CRTS-3) training aboard USS Kearsarge (LHD 3).

“We had an array of standardized patients that were moulage,” Cmdr. Smith said. “We also had high fidelity mannequins that could talk through a laptop and have realistic injuries. In addition, we also had surgical cut suits, which were mannequins that had a rubber lining for an abdomen and can have a surgical operation performed, find internal bleeding and external fixing the pelvis or the spleen.”

Also, HSBTC received an award from DHA for standardizing orthopedic surgeon combat trauma care in the development of the Combat Orthopedic Trauma Surgery Course (COTS+).

“We were able to create the combat orthopedic trauma surgery course, cots plus, which was patterned after the asset course. We added advanced surgical skills and exposures for a trauma course and also added all the vascular extremity exposures needed for an orthopedic surgeon plus the addition of the combat extremity surgery course, which involved external fixation, amputations, flaps, and other orthopedic procedures,” added Smith. “This DHA award signifies the quality of standardization as we are moving back into a peacetime military and how we will not forget how to perform these skills and these courses for skill sustained across the enterprise.”

As the U. S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating hospital since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally acclaimed, state of the art medical center, including its ten branch and TRICARE Prime clinics, serves the Hampton Roads area and additionally offers premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsmen for future roles in healing and wellness.