Uniontown Hospital ED Collaborates With Ruby on Simulated Training Course on Central Line Insertion

Last week, more than a dozen members of the WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital Emergency Department, including physicians, advanced practice providers, and other clinicians, underwent a four-hour simulated training course on central line insertion.

The training was a collaborative effort between Paul Beck, MD, interim medical director of the Emergency Department, and Christopher Kiefer, MD, associate professor of emergency medicine, J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital.

“Our team had the opportunity to learn from their expertise and it was a great training all around,” Dr. Beck said.

Dr. Kiefer worked with members of his education team, including Jessica Neidhardt, MD, and Courtney Cundiff, MD, and colleagues at Uniontown, including Michelle Angeline, MD, and Kristin Davis, MD, to provide the training.

Utilizing manikins, made available by the STEPS simulation center at WVU that provide a realistic representation of femoral, subclavian, and internal jugular insertion sites, as well as point-of-care ultrasound, the workshop covered indications, contraindications, and complications. All the providers who attended had multiple opportunities to practice inserting central lines in simulated conditions using point-of-care ultrasound.

“We are so thrilled to have the Uniontown Emergency Department and hospitalist group as part of our WVU Emergency Medicine family, and hopefully this will be the first of many educational outreach efforts utilizing the simulation technology and equipment here at WVU that will help the already outstanding providers at Uniontown maintain and further their already great patient care skills,” Kiefer said.

David Hess, MD, president and CEO of Uniontown Hospital, said he was blown away by the scope of the on-site training and excited by the engagement of hospital staff.

“This kind of collaboration around a training that is advanced and nuanced is an exceptional effort by all involved,” Dr. Hess said. “I am proud of our team for participating, happy that Dr. Beck went above and beyond to make it happen, and grateful for the expertise available to our providers at the system level from Dr. Kiefer and his team.”