Stan the Man helps ensure that Army medics are fully prepared

He's known as Stan the Man, and he helps train Army medics.

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"He can be a 22-year-old man or an 86-year-old woman," said Allen Smith, the exercise coordinator at Fort Gordon's Regional Training Site-Medical, which trains Army Reserve medical personnel. It is one of three regional sites in the country.

Stan the Man is a mannequin with an advanced computer brain that can simulate almost any medical circumstance.

Give him the wrong medication, and the reactions a person would have are evident in Stan. Give him the wrong amount of the right medicine and he will react accordingly.

With a price tag of about $150,000, Stan is the most advanced device used to train reserve medics. Other high-tech mannequins with computer simulations are available; they cost about $30,000 each, but they do not perform as many functions as Stan.

About 6,000 soldiers receive training at the site each year, according to Don Schaeberle, the site administrator. Some reservists receive their annual training at the site, while others are trained in preparation for deployment.

"Typically, training is two weeks," he said.

Trainers work to hone the reservists' skills at the individual as well as the group level. Training ranges from learning the Army process of procuring supplies to setting up a combat support hospital to working on patients, Smith said.