A new lifelike training technology in Victoria is helping healthcare professionals think outside the box when it comes to reacting to high-pressure situations in the ER.

The newly-opened Centre for Interprofessional Clinical Simulation Learning in Royal Jubilee Hospital is using Wi-Fi enabled mannequins to simulate emergency situations in an operating room and critical care unit.

The incredibly lifelike dummies, which breathe, talk, cough and moan in pain, are controlled by an operator in a nearby control room.

“When we shine lights in their eyes they react,” said Dr. Brian Farrell, clinical assistant professor at UBC.

“You feel a bit like a movie producer at times.”

The training dummies will be used by 128 medical students in the Island Medical Program, 366 nursing students at UVic and Island Health and UBC midwifery students training on Vancouver Island.

The use of mannequins draws from the aviation industry’s use of flight simulators to train pilots with “situational context” -- the interaction between the task, the environment and the behaviour of team members – according to UVic’s head of Division of Medical Sciences Dr. Bruce Wright.

Wright says the centre is the closest to real-life scenarios medical trainees can get while allowing them to learn – and make mistakes – in a safe environment.

The goal of the project is to have higher-functioning response teams, which will in turn save more lives.

“Research shows team-based simulation learning is one of the most effective ways for us to meet this region’s unique needs in serving a growing, aging and longer-living population,” Dr. Taj Baidwan, chief medical officer for Island Health said in a statement.

Farrell agrees, saying the training allows professionals to become at ease with dynamic emergencies where factors can change quickly.

“When you fall off your motorcycle and are a major trauma patient you don't want to be the doctor's first case like that,” he said.

Practitioners using the simulator told CTV News that it helps hands-on learning without putting a human patient at risk.

“I love it,” said nurse Sandra McLeod.

“It's kind of muscle memory so when the real thing happens you're not as stressed when it does.

The $2.9-million centre is a partnership project of Island Health, the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine with three simulation laboratories.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Bhinder Sajan