TCC prof. creates cutting edge software

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va (WAVY) - Patients in Hampton Roads hospitals may have an edge when it comes to being treated for severe respiratory issues.

That's because the therapists treating you may be among the first in the nation to train on cutting edge technology.

Tidewater Community College Associate Professor Gary Cross  took real life patient scenarios and recreated them for a potentially life-saving software only being used at TCC.

"They are autonomous, meaning you treat them, they respond. You treat them well they get better, you treat them badly they can die," Cross said.

And that does happen.

WAVY.com watched as two students struggled to save their patient. You could feel their frustration and eventually defeat when the professor told them to call the time of death.

It's hard for students to relive, but Cross explained the beauty of the program is that they can.

"They get to watch themselves, kind of like a football player watches a game and then they can see that's where I went wrong," Cross said.

The more patients they save in the lab, the better the odds for real patients in the future.

Cross' simulation program is a first in his field and could become TCC's first patented work.

TCC honored Cross with its first Batten Fellowship award to work on the simulator.

The fellowship is named for Frank Batten, the former publisher of the Virginian Pilot and founder of the Weather Channel. Batten gave $1 million to establish the award in 2005.