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MUSCATINE, Iowa – Muscatine Fire Department staff took advantage of a unique opportunity over the course of the last three days, thanks to a unique program offered by the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. Simulation In Motion-Iowa is a unique program designed to provide simulated clinical opportunities with state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained staff enhancing the education of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel.

“This is the first time that Muscatine Fire has ever used this training opportunity, Lt. Andrew McSorley, Critical Care Paramedic with Muscatine Fire, said. “This is very solid training and, from everyone’s responses, we will be doing ore of this in the future.”

The mobile simulation labs contain two areas that resemble the inside of an ambulance separated by a control room. Each of the two “ambulances” have a different medical training scenario for EMS personnel to experience.

The instructors are located in a control room that separates the two “ambulances” where they control the state-of-the-art manikins used in the training scenarios. Each manikin mimics a real individual in that they can talk, blink, breathe, have pulses, can bleed, vomit, or sweat, and just about anything else a real victim might be going through.

In one ambulance was an individual who had fallen 18 feet to the ground from a tree stand with a large stick penetrating one leg. In the other ambulance was a juvenile who was very sick.

Working in teams of two, the Muscatine Fire Department members were presented a scenario for each victim and then were evaluated on how they assessed and treated the victim. The instructor, acting as the victim, would interact with the MFD staff members as they proceeded with the assessment and treatment.

“We ran the entire department through various scenarios to work on skills that you may not get to do very often,” Lt. McSorley said.

After each scenario the instructors break down the session with the EMS personnel, going over what worked, what could have been done better, and what was learned.

“This is a realistic EMS training mobile unit that is 100 percent cost free to any EMS service upon request,” Lt. McSorley said.

According to the Simulation in Motion-Iowa website, SIM-IA focuses on providing high, mid, and low fidelity simulation experiences to healthcare providers across the State of Iowa. While clinical simulations can be found in many formal education programs for students, simulation resources are often not readily accessible for certified and licensed providers.

Providing clinical simulations for healthcare professionals beyond their initial education provides opportunities to:

promote active and engaged learning of new procedures, equipment, and skills
experience clinical situations that may occur less frequently, especially in rural areas
practice essential teamwork and communication skills
discover procedural, resource, or access challenges before impacting patient care
ensure the highest quality care and evidence-based practice across the state

SIM-IA’s mobile program brings clinical simulations to the healthcare providers, in their clinical settings, rather than requiring travel to distant simulation centers. This unique feature allows more health care professionals to train together without disrupting staffing, patient care, and reduces both education and travel expenses.

MUSCATINE, Iowa – Leaves continue to fall and residents are taking advantage of the excellent fall weather to rake or blow the leaves into piles along the curb with the Department of Public Works beginning the second round of the annual Fall Leaf Pickup.

Leaf vacuum trucks wrapped up Zone 1 Tuesday (November 1) and have moved into Zone 2 (see map) for the second round of the 2022 Fall Leaf Pickup. There are eight zones that the leaf trucks will work through on consecutive weekdays. A final pass, weather permitting and if needed, will start on Dec. 1 with Zone 1.

Leaf trucks may be working in zones prior to pick up day but will return on (or after) the scheduled date as needed.

Residents are asked to have leaves raked out next to the curb by 7 a.m. on the day of leaf pickup and to avoid parking on the street during their collection day. Leaf piles blocked by cars will not be collected until the cars are moved.

Residents are also asked not to mix trash, branches, or other yard waste with their leaf piles.

As we move further into fall, the possibility of inclement weather increases. Leaf collection operations may be postponed as snow and ice control take priority.

The Compost Site at the Transfer Station on South Houser Street will remain open throughout the fall season, weather permitting, and will be open from 12-6 p.m. Sunday through Friday and from 9 a.m-6 p.m. on Saturdays.

Here are some additional guidelines for leaf collection:

Leaves should be placed near, but not beyond, the curb and should be within reach of the leaf vacuum.
Leaves should be free of tree branches and twigs as they can cause the leaf vacuums to clog up.
All leaves must be placed outside of fenced areas.
Leaves are not to be placed in the street to avoid clogging storm drains.
Leaves should not be placed in the street or extend into traffic lanes, thereby creating traffic hazards.
Leaves should not be placed around obstacles such as mailbox posts, sign posts, and light poles.
Crews will not pick up leaves mixed with debris, logs, branches, rocks, plastic, metal or glass containers, or any other types of refuse.
Leaves should not be placed on City cul-de-sacs, vacant land, or city property except on the public right-of-way along the curb/shoulder area.

For more information, contact the Department of Public Works at 563-263-8933.

Iowa DNR encourages top three ways to handle fall leaves –

Fall leaves are beautiful – until they pile up in your yard. Don’t send those precious nutrients up in smoke (it is actually illegal to burn yard waste in Muscatine on properties of two acres or less). Instead, put those nuisance leaf piles to good use. Leaves, small branches and other landscape materials can nourish your lawn, garden or community.

It’s easy:

Compost. Composting leaves and food scraps is a great way to turn this waste into garden nutrients. A good compost mix needs both carbon (dead or dry leaves) and nitrogen (green materials like food scraps and grass clippings). Many types and sizes of compost containers are available. For tips on low-tech ways to compost, see a DNR tutorial.
Mulch. Your lawn will love you if you chop up and leave your leaves in place. Leaves are a free, natural fertilizer that enriches your soil with organic matter. You can use your regular lawn mower. Or, use a mulching lawn mower to shred and mix leaves and grass into your yard.
Bag it. If you have too many leaves or branches to compost, you can bag the leaves and tie up the branches to be collected or have a drop-off at the Muscatine Compost Facility. The upside is that anyone can pick up composted materials for their yards or gardens from the Compost Facility.

Yard waste is collected on a residents refuse collection day but only in bags with the City of Muscatine logo on them. (See GUIDELINES).
Yard Waste in any paper bag along with tree limbs and other trimmings can be taken to the Compost Facility during normal hours operation.
Residents of Muscatine and Fruitland can drop off yard waste free of change with proof of residency. A small fee is charged for non-residents.

For some, burning leaves seems to capture the nostalgic smell of autumn. But breathing leaf smoke pulls pollutants such as carbon monoxide, soot and toxic chemicals into your lungs. While it may smell good, smoke is especially harmful to children, the elderly, and those with respiratory or heart problems. Turning leaves into nutrients is the healthy way to protect your and your neighbor’s lungs.