The safety of your colleagues should always be the top priority in training scenarios

Whether you are teaching a group about height rescue or teaching the most effective ways to move a bariatric patient, maintaining the health and well-being of your students is just as important as imparting professional skills.

A question that is often asked to us and Ruth Lee Ltd, our supplier of training manikins, is: "Why do I use a manikin when I can ask for help from a volunteer in the group?"

When budgets are tight, it may seem like the most logical thing in the world to use a 'volunteer' to pose as an injured player in a training scenario.

Think about it again!

Using a live volunteer can expose you and your company to all sorts of problems - especially with a bunch of newbies who need to learn about, say, rope access.

It makes sense to use a dummy when training people. That way, only the dummy suffers if something goes wrong! You can always switch to a volunteer when you are sure they have mastered the skills. That way you also get some 'live' feedback on the techniques used.

Listen to the experts

Ruth Lee does not claim to be experts in rescue training or manual handling techniques - but over the years they have built excellent relationships with clients who are experts in their fields. It is their expertise that guides Ruth Lee in making the best possible training manikins.

Ruth Lee also listens to their clients when the question ‘why use a mannequin’ comes up in conversation. The general consensus among experts is that using a mannequin is particularly beneficial in the early stages of training. For example, during a training scenario involving height rescue, where you are not putting a live volunteer in danger while the students are figuring out the best possible techniques.

Don't expose yourself and your employer to unnecessary risk

In a manual rescue scenario, the argument "using a live volunteer means they can provide feedback if they get injured" is ringing alarm bells! Why on earth would you risk a lawsuit for injury caused by the training you're doing yourself?

The safest and most professional way to conduct training is certainly to initially start 'rookies' up on lifting and handling techniques using a mannequin (whether this training is using a hoist or simply moving the patient from a bed to a wheelchair) and once you are confident that they are skilled enough, you can safely move the training to a volunteer.

Training with manikins has many advantages

Training with dummies has many advantages. Not only does it minimize the risk of injury to those participating in the training, it also means that all participants are actively learning the required techniques. If you just sit around and wait for others to practice, it can hardly be called effective learning!

Use a doll and you won't embarrass a volunteer either.

Honestly! How many people feel comfortable being physically handled by their colleagues in an intimate way? A safe guess is 'not many'! We've all experienced that awkward giggle when people are nervous and embarrassed – hardly professional – understandably so.

You would also never ask a child to volunteer for either a lifting and handling scenario or a rescue drill. It is likely that a young person will not understand the seriousness of the training and will either joke or move at an inappropriate time.

Returning briefly to the embarrassment issue – how do we tackle the need to complete bariatric training? It is hardly fair to ask who is perceived as the fattest in a group of people who volunteer to act out a bariatric accident! With the doll you avoid the inconvenience.

Education = Training Dummies

Of course, not all solutions fit everyone. That’s why Optisafe, together with Ruth Lee, has a full range of training manikins available. The manikins are all designed with specific sector training in mind.

From patient handling and bariatric manikins for those working in the health and social care industry, to multi-trauma, confined space or work at height manikins for technical rescue training scenarios, we are confident that we have the right manikin to enhance your training.

Dolls truly come in all shapes and sizes, with models ranging from a 5kg baby, all the way up to a 260kg adult. We know that people come in many different shapes and sizes and we make sure our dolls do too.

So the next time your colleague or boss asks you "why use a doll?" - you can safely answer "Why NOT use a doll?"