FRAN was in a quiet mood when we first met, blinking in the glaring operating theatre lights of The Montagu Clinical Simula-tion Centre, her tiny chest rising slightly with each breath.

In an instant she was crying out loudly. A cuddle from her "mum" pacified her, just before she was given an anaesthetic prior to her operation. But what if mum hadn't been there, or had been crying hysterically outside?

At other times she could have been due a feed, or simply scared of the strange environment. If she had started coughing and spluttering, her temperature had risen or her heartbeat slowed - how should medics react? What should they do in the endless scenarios which are part and parcel of treating children?

Fran is, it must be said, a spookily realistic dummy. Suspend disbelief for a second and she becomes very real. Add an emergency situation into the mix and the emotion and adrenalin runs high. Mistakes can be made and good practice built upon, safe in the knowledge that an actual child's life is not at risk.

Consultant anaesthetist, Dr Paul Bedford, a member of the MCSC Faculty, described the challenge of providing emergency care for babies: "Caring for critically-ill infants is a unique challenge to all healthcare staff; it requires specific knowledge and skills.

"Treatment is often delivered urgently and in circumstances of great stress for child and parent. The opportunity to provide training in these situations is thus limited – so the special environment of our Simulation Centre with a lifelike baby mannequin is a real bonus to delivering high-quality, tried and tested care."

The £24,000 baby mannequin is the only one of its kind in the county. Connected to a laptop, Fran can simulate realistic and automatic responses to a wide range of clinical interventions and drug administration.

A monitor screen shows her heart rate and temerature blood pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. But she also has an airway which can be physically checked for breathing, realistic crying cooing and giggling and a whole range of bodily functions from pulse and bowel sounds to pupil dilation.

And with colleagues on hand to play the role of concerned parents, treating Fran can help prepare medics for a range of tricky real-life situations.

Simulation fellow Dr Anil Hormis explained: "Staff develop much more confidence in treating children after using the simulator. Sessions are videoed and in the debrief we talk what can be learned from both good and bad experiences. It is important that we achieve as much realism as possible.

"Different individuals react in different ways. If you have a stressed mother and child the situation can get emotional and it puts you on edge - but you have to deal with the situation".

Since it opened five years ago thanks to the Fred and Anne Green Legacy, the £500,000 simulation centre has welcomed over 6,340 delegates from across the South Yorkshire health and social care community.