A donated TARTA bus will soon be a mobile, high-tech simulation lab and training center to teach public-health tactics, such as overdose response and how to approach victims of human trafficking, to the Toledo community.
It’s a way to bring education out of the academic setting and into the broader community, said Dr. Thomas Papadimos, medical director of the Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center at the University of Toledo, which is spearheading the effort.
WATCH: University of Toledo mobile simulation bus
Interactive mannequins from the simulation center will be on the retrofitted bus for training on life-saving measures such as overdose response with naloxone and CPR, as well as video screens and other educational materials. The mannequins, with functioning eyes and vocal responses, display vital signs such as a pulse that make them useful for training.
“We believe it’s our responsibility to do something other than educating medical students and doing research for the university,” Dr. Papadimos said. “I felt like the public outreach was necessary.”
The bus premiered Thursday at the first graduation ceremony for Lucas County Drug Court, though renovations are ongoing. Once complete, it will travel to high schools, colleges, hospitals, and other community events.
Dr. Papadimos said the bus is the effort of many area organizations with a vested interest in public health and curbing the opioid crisis, though he sees opportunities for use with other public health concerns such as communicable diseases.
Donations of $15,000 came in from Lucas County Sheriff John Tharp and Prosecutor Julia Bates, $50,000 from the Cleveland-based Reinberger Foundation, as well as the donated TARTA bus. Representatives from UT’s College of Engineering designed the interior layout of the bus.
Mrs. Bates said she believes the new bus will provide "a tremendous advantage" to the county in its ongoing battle against opioid addiction.
“The more that we can do in terms of outreach, in terms of educating the public about the opiate crisis, in terms of what to do to prevent it and save people’s lives, the better off we are," she said.
Sheriff Tharp agreed.
“We have to do enforcement and treatment, but [also] education for the young people coming up,” he said. “If those young people had had education at the beginning, many of them wouldn’t be addicted to opiates.”
He said he envisions members of the sheriff’s Drug Abuse Response Team to join the bus at community events to share their work and engage with citizens about how to get help for addiction treatment.
“I think we can do a lot of education with that,” he said of his team. “They’re not nurses, they’re not doctors, but they sure are in the trenches.”
Officials from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department said they plan to be involved in some capacity, but nothing formal has been determined. Dr. Papadimos said he expects the bus to be ready for public events by the fall.
Staff writer Jennifer Feehan contributed to this report.
Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.
First Published July 19, 2018, 6:56 p.m.
