Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance hits the road

Students at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic School of Dental Medicine work on real patients but not until their third year. 

“Before we turn them loose on patients, we like for them to practice on people that won’t complain or sue us,” joked Dean Thomas Yoon. “Our first and second year students spend time learning on mannequins. They’re very lifelike.” 

The simulation lab at LECOM was one of three stops on an “Innovations in Healthcare Training” road show hosted by the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance on Aug. 23. 

The group of about 25 alliance members also stopped at the Manatee County EMS station on Malachite Drive and the Medical Technology and Simulation Center at the State College of Florida’s Lakewood Ranch campus. 

“Our Economic Impact Committee put on the road shows for us. We’ve done the airport, Port Manatee and the library,” LWRBA President Brittany Lamont said. “This road tour is about healthcare advancements. That Lakewood Ranch gets to be a pilot study for this (drone) is awesome. It’s the first in the nation.” 

Manatee County commissioners approved a pilot program to test a life-saving drone at the Lakewood Ranch EMS station in April. The program will run for one year.

The drone is stocked with a tourniquet to treat a wound, an automated external defibrillator to stop a cardiac arrest and a bottle of Narcan to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. 

While it has yet to be deployed, the drone has the ability to cut the average EMS response time from eight minutes to under two. Alliance members were given a demonstration.

All phones were pointed to the air as the drone flew overhead to a field across the street. Once the drone hit its targeted coordinates, a small, black box lowered to the ground on a tether and then dropped the payload of medical supplies.

The last healthcare stop of the day was at the State College of Florida to see how the next generation of nurses are being trained.