Bingo proceeds help hospital

Pleased to receive Bob the manikin are (from front left) Josie Byrne, Arlyn Klinstrom, Brooke Rowlands, Christine Bush, (back) Drew Kronk and Adele Wilkinson.

Max Fleet

BOB does not say much, but his taciturn tendencies are just what the nursing department at the Bundaberg Mater Misericordiae Hospital needs.

Bob is also known as an Adult Advanced Life Support Training Manikin and will be used to help provide a range of training for students and postgraduate nurses.

The $15,000 manikin was purchased with a donation from the Bundaberg Ladies Auxiliary, who raised the money with their weekly bingo sessions.

“People laugh when we say we do bingo, but when you can raise money for something like this it is definitely worth it,” Bundaberg Ladies’ Auxiliary treasurer Jean McDougall said.

Bob received his name after the ladies nicknamed him Bingo Bob, thanks to the fundraising method behind his purchase.

Mrs McDougall said each year the women worked to buy a piece of equipment for the hospital, depending on what was needed.

“We’re very happy to see them get the equipment because we really feel we could help save lives by helping them out,” she said.

Mater Hospital staff development co-ordinator Brooke Rowlands said Bob was able to help nurses learn how to deal with life-threatening situations.

“We can simulate a full emergency arrest event,” Ms Rowlands said.

“But we can also cannulate him and practise putting in IV drips, so it is not just emergency procedures.”

Ms Rowlands is teaching four postgraduate nurses in weekly training sessions using Bob.

“The simulator manikin will allow us to work with and teach the graduate nurses at a far greater level,” she said.

“The new nursing lab allows the staff and nursing students to train and practise their skills within a simulated environment,” Ms Rowlands said.