During a 7:45 a.m. septic shock run, our SimMan 3G flatlined — not from hypotension, but because someone unplugged the charger to power the Keurig… We pivoted into a human factors drill on equipment checks and resource management, and the debrief on reliability was surprisingly rich even if my heart rate hit 160. What’s the funniest sim malfunction you’ve turned into a teachable moment?
Had our 3G ‘code’ mid-ACLS when housekeeping grabbed the outlet for the floor polisher, so we pivoted to a quick power-paths huddle and it stuck. The simple fix that saved my heart rate: a bright lockable outlet cover on the charger with a labeled flat splitter so folks can still plug in — if facilities balk at covers, the splitter alone has cut the unplugging to near zero, @OP.
And quick fix that stuck: we put a $70 UPS under the bed after our 3G did a surprise Windows reboot at 7:30, and a big “don’t unplug — sim life support” tag on the charger. We also mapped the red outlets and gave the Keurig its own labeled strip so nobody steals the lifeline, but we still do a 30‑second power check before any 7:45 shock run. If your battery’s flaky, Laerdal’s maintenance page helped us set charge cycles: https://www.laerdal.com/us/services/support/simman-3g/.
We routed the 3G’s brick to a ceiling drop with a locking IEC cord and put the wall outlet behind a clear keyed cover; we also added a quick “battery >60% or we don’t roll” line to the pre-brief. Zero surprise flatlines since — though I still keep a small UPS as a backstop, @bmcgill90.
Same 7:45 coffee wars here — now the 3G’s charger sits on a plug-in power-failure alarm (~$12) that screams the moment someone steals the outlet, so we catch it before “flatline for Keurig.” @lfrancis55 is right on outlet protection; we also name a prebrief “power buddy” to point to the live plug before we roll.