Nesting for Spring: A Spring Cleaning Tip

by Scott Crawford, MD, FSSH, CHSOS, SimGHOSTS Board Member

Spring is upon us. The trees are starting to bud, the birds are returning, the students are getting lazy, and soon healthcare simulation technology specialists everywhere will go around with their baskets finding all the medications and supplies hidden by learners during the semester. 

For many centers spring is a time for cleaning and finding ways to increase that ever so precious resource of storage space. The Training and Educational Center for Healthcare Simulation (TECHS) at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso stumbled upon a great space saving discovery. 

Here is a quick space saving tip to try out with the new wheeled suitcases for Laerdal 3G manikins. 

The manikins come as a two-part set for ease of shipping and arrive packaged in very nice (although rather large) rolling suitcases. The cases will be labeled Torso (#1) and Legs (#2). These cases are invaluable if you ever need to transport a manikin, or return them for service, but storing these cases that are large enough to hide (is it better or worse to say “store”?) an entire body, even though they are only designed for half a manikin, is a dilemma in the world of simulation center storage.

The case labeled #2 appeared slightly smaller than that of case #1. Once the padding was removed from case #1 and placed inside of case #2 (Image 1) it confirmed that the size was just right to allow case #2 to nest inside of case #1 (image 2).

Multiplying this storage saving by multiple bags results in a major spring-cleaning success. 

Happy Nesting!