Inside the Manatee County facility crafting thousands of realistic medical simulators

BRADENTON, Fla - A Manatee County healthcare technology company uses its hyperrealistic medical simulators to train first responders and area students.

Lifelike technology in Manatee County

What we know:

Echo-Healthcare opened its doors in Manatee County in 2018, manufacturing highly detailed medical mannequins designed to replicate real-life situations. Every detail on the simulators is finished by hand, down to the precise placement of body hair and eyelashes.

The company's technology is used for safety training and education by paramedics, firefighters and healthcare professionals. Beyond physical mannequins, the company provides interactive learning scenarios that can adapt from classroom tools to high-stress emergency simulations.

School district technology expansion

The backstory:

Founder and President Kevin King, a former helicopter paramedic, started the company after recognizing a critical flaw in existing medical training tools.

"One of the things that struck me with the technology around at that time was that it wasn’t real," King said. "I really wanted to focus and refocus my career on creating something that was real. As you seen out here, what we have created is the most realistic mannequins possible. Why is that important? Because the notion of suspension of disbelief is how can we get our students to be prepared to make fewer mistakes, to improve the outcome of patients and I think we’ve done a nice job of creating what’s real. We want students to look at that technology and say ‘oh my goodness, that is real.’"

Classroom and community reach

Local perspective:

Echo-Healthcare reached out to school districts in Manatee and Sarasota counties to demonstrate how immersive simulations fit into educational programs. The simulations are already inside classrooms across the nation, offering interactive learning models as well as new approaches for students with sensory issues.

"Being exposed to the technology early, we think that is one of the keys to making sure that you’ve got a much more successful educational experience than what they traditionally had," said King. 

Scope of simulation footprint

By the numbers:

More than 3,000 Echo-Healthcare mannequins are currently in use across North America. On the digital side, the company offers over 6,000 immersive simulation scenarios for educational and emergency response training.

Manatee CountyTechnology