The University of West Alabama’s Ira D. Pruitt School of Nursing will soon provide students with the latest in patient simulation technology thanks to a Sumter County couple’s commitment to improving health care in the county.

Susan and Eddie Davis of York have committed $50,000 to “The University We Will Be” fundraising campaign, earmarked for the nursing program’s clinical laboratory renovation and new patient simulator, a SimMan aptly named Davis.

The Davises have put their medical background to work in the community for years.

Eddie Davis, proprietor of York Drug and The Drug Store of Livingston and YD Home Medical in Demopolis. Susan Davis is a 1994 nursing graduate and former adjunct clinical instructor at UWA.

According to UWA, the nursing program admits 80 students each year through a competitive application process. With limited clinical space in Brock Hall, nursing chairperson Marsha Cannon says the SimMan is an exciting addition, thanks to its impressive capabilities and the range of simulated experiences it provides.

Operated by computer software, the SimMan bleeds, cries, vomits, talks, blinks, convulses and goes into cardiac arrest. Its technology measures the quality of CPR and provides real time feedback on compression rate, depth, release, and more. The eyes weep in reaction to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear virtual agents. It even applies the appropriate physiological responses to drugs administered by the students. In addition, its synchronized video and audio recording provides a valuable tool for critiquing mistakes and sharing the scenarios with classes.

What the Davises have done is ensured that the next generation of medical professionals have some of the best tools available during their education.

That is a gesture we can all appreciate and one that we all stand to benefit from a great deal.

And, in case you’re wondering, the SimMan’s

name – fittingly – is Davis.

Jason Cannon is the publisher of The Demopolis Times.