Johnson County Emergency Services District staff receive in-house training for their job of saving community members in distress. But they generally don’t have access to Pediatric “Petey” Hal.
On April 23, paramedics and firefighters across the county got access to the child-size simulation mannequin through Texas Health Resources Fort Worth’s new mobile education unit.
Lt. Chad Majors was one of six Johnson County emergency medical personnel who participated in Petey’s rescue after a simulated drowning. He said that if he had the option, service members would train with the simulation unit several times a year.
“(This was) very realistic,” Majors said. “This is what you’re going to encounter on-scene, which changes the whole game plan.”
The skills training session was the second in as many weeks that Texas Health hosted in Cleburne for the Johnson County EMS department. The hospital began deploying the mobile education lab to communities Jan. 30 and is looking to continue providing access to anyone interested in simulation medical training, said Rhonda Thompson, program manager at the Fort Worth hospital’s simulation training center.
The mobile lab brings access to quality simulation training directly to communities in rural areas.
“It’s not always easy to get everyone off the clock at one time to get down to Fort Worth to spend a day training,” Thompson said.
Bringing the mobile lab to Johnson County was the first time it was taken to an emergency services department, Thompson said. So far, the $1.3 million donor-funded vehicle has visited a range of sites — from Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Stephenville for code-blue training to Burleson high schools for basic CPR sessions.
Texas Health Resources’ Medical Simulation Lab was fully donor-funded. It provided Johnson County Emergency Services District personnel with simulated training on April 23, 2026. (Ismael M. Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)
“We can use it for fun and we can use it for serious training,” Thompson added.
The mobile lab is a tool Texas Health uses for community outreach, Thompson said. Initially, hospital staff used local connections to inform others of the new tool.
Now, the lab is booked at least once a week for the next month.
For Johnson County personnel, access to Petey, the medical lab and Texas Health nurses helped them to prepare for the real-life saves they need to make in the field, said Chloe Carothers, a firefighter and paramedic with the emergency department.
“Just having different knowledge from different providers has been so beneficial to our providers on the EMS side to make sure that we’re giving our best care for our community and our patients,” Carothers said.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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