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Brrrring... Brrrring...
"Hello?"
"Hey, Valerie. It's TJ. I'm overloaded here. Can you come in and
help do some skills with the paramedic class? They're doing a final
test-out next week before they leave for their internship phase and need
some skills fine tuning."
"Sure, I can do that. It'll be fun," I said.
"Oh, by the way," TJ added, " I've been so swamped I had
to schedule an equipment rep to be in class as well. So, between skills,
we'll take a look-see at the products."
I experienced a mental groan over this bit of news. "Just
great," I was thinking, "some pushy rep in everyone's ear
while we're trying to focus on skills." What I said, however, was,
"OK. What products in particular are you looking at?"
"Well, mostly we need to see about a new ALS manikin, and replace
some AED or AED trainers, and some other items." We discussed the
schedule and hung up.
I arrived at the designated time and place. TJ, the students, and I set
up some skill stations and began doing the skills in earnest. Things
were rolling along just fine when he showed up. Yep, it was the dreaded
rep from Laerdal, equipment in tow. I finished with a student who was
doing a trauma assessment skill and, to be polite, strolled over to
introduce myself.
He introduced himself as Glenn Ostrem, and I was provided with the usual
rep business card along with a firm handshake. He then continued to pack
in one heck of a mega-load of equipment, all in pretty, shiny new boxes.
As TJ began looking over the products, I continued assessing skills,
hoping the rep wouldn't be there too long or be too disruptive.
Spiffy, shiny new equipment has a lure of its own, it's darn near
irresistible, and no one I know can restrain himself or herself from
poking around in it. When the rep pulled out a laptop computer and
hooked it up to what seemed to be your standard ALS manikin, and then
the latest heart monitor made an appearance, my interest increased
significantly. My only concern at this point was using valuable skills
time to listen to a standard sales pitch.
It just so happened that Mr. Ostrem turned out to not be your average
rep, in my opinion and experience. He set everything up in the back of
the room, and was as unobtrusive as possible while still readily
available to answer everyone's questions. As some students went through
the skills, others wandered to the back of the room to take a peek at
the shiny new goodies.
I must say, the "toys" were most impressive, including a
manikin that produced audible lung sounds and had the ability to block
off air entry to a lung and simulate a tension pnuemothorax. The manikin
could even be commanded to make a very keen retching sound — close
enough to real that those of us who have heard this tell-tale sound took
a step back when it occurred. The computer could direct what the manikin
did at any given time, and you could track the drugs that were pushed.
It even graphically showed on the monitor when compressions were being
performed and to what degree of accuracy. There were tons of other
really neat things as well, but you'll have to get your own Laerdal rep
to experience all the thrills.
The most impressive part of all was the rep. Yes, the rep — the guy we
all expected to take up our time with some high-speed, fancy sales pitch
— didn't give us a sales pitch at all. In fact, he ended up helping us
get these students fine-tuned. In seeking out the sale of new equipment,
what traditionally has been done with only the rep and customer present
was thrown out the window by this fellow.
Glenn encouraged everyone to work on the manikin; do a code, perform
CPR, look at the computer tracking, do an assessment, and indeed almost
anything anyone wanted to practice. Under his guidance, we saw how easy
it would be for anyone to run the software and simulate a number of
scenarios, which also benefited the students by making them think about
the aspects of formulating realistic scenarios. I actually thought at
one point that there would be less need for skills assistants with all
this new gadgetry.
Glenn spent the entire day with us. What with all of us, he was
a-hopping all day. He never lost patience when he had to repeat himself,
nor did he push the products. Instead, he readily produced information
and answered questions while letting the products speak for themselves.
He didn't subject us to a formal presentation. And when answering
product comparison questions, he never denigrated the other brands.
Students got to see — and use — a wider variety of equipment than
was currently on hand.
We even ended with a spontaneous "guess how much this cost?"
contest, in which he gave away his freebies as prizes. This also gave
the students some insight as to why the courses cost what they do. How
refreshing it was to have this rep in our classroom. He was helpful and
truly enhanced our skills day with his attitude and oh-so-cool
equipment. And, man-oh-man, he even bought pizza for lunch!
As an instructor, I am now fantasizing about having reps show up on
certain days. Let's see, if it's Airway Day, we could try for an AMBU
rep to show up. Splint day, latch onto a Sager rep. Ahh... the doors
Glenn has opened in my mind. If only all reps could be like him.
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