MEDICS at the Great Western Hospital welcomed their latest potential recruit.

Sim Man is a £22,000-advanced training simulator to help train doctors and nurses at the hospital in life saving skills.

And it was on loan to the hospital for the day to demonstrate its versatility.

Unlike basic resuscitation dummies, the advanced piece of equipment can be used to simulate a variety of life-threatening incidents to allow staff to practice their skills in other scenarios.

Resuscitation officer Jonathan Taylor said: "We are asking for funding from the trust to be able to buy one of these new pieces of equipment.

"It makes all the difference in resuscitation training. To have something that responds depending on the action that you carry out really puts the pressure on.

"It is much more realistic. If we are successful in bidding for the new piece of equipment, it would be used by a huge variety of staff members throughout the trust, from consultants to nurses. Potentially this could save lives."