Our Team

Chrystal Rutledge, MD
Program Director

Dr. Rutledge is an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine. She obtained her medical degree from UAB School of Medicine in 2008, completed a pediatrics residency at North Carolina Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill, NC in 2011 and a pediatric critical care fellowship at UAB/Children’s of Alabama in 2014.  Her clinical time is spent taking care of critically ill children in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's of Alabama. Her non-clinical time is devoted to simulation education and health equity initiatives. She is Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the Department of Pediatrics. She is also assistant program director of the UAB Pediatrics Residency Program and focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for residents. She is medical co-director of the Pediatric Simulation Center at Children's of Alabama as well as the program director for the Children's of Alabama Community Healthcare Education Simulation (COACHES) Program. She feels that simulation allows for health care providers to practice skills that are crucial and time sensitive but sometimes rarely used. Her major goal through the COACHES Program is to use simulation to improve pediatric care in community hospitals throughout Alabama where taking care of critically ill children is low frequency but high risk.

Sarah Bingham, MD
Assistant Program Director

Dr. Sarah Bingham is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine. She completed her medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine in 2015 before moving to Hanover, NH to complete her pediatric residency at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in 2018. Following her residency, she moved back to Winston-Salem, NC to complete a fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest, Baptist Medical Center in 2021. Upon completion of her fellowship, she moved to Birmingham, AL to commence her faculty position at Children’s of Alabama. 

Dr. Bingham joined the Children’s of Alabama Community Healthcare Education Simulation (COACHES) Program in 2023 with hopes of providing her pediatric emergency medicine expertise through simulation, pathway development and resource management. She spends the remainder of her non-clinical time teaching pediatric emergency medicine fellows, pediatric and emergency medicine residents through simulation and didactics. Her primary clinical interests include quality improvement and pediatric trauma care. Her goal through joining the COACHES program is to identify regional needs and serve as a resource for facilities caring for the children of Alabama.
 

Lauren Robinson, MD
Director of Outpatient and School Readiness

Dr. Robinson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine. She earned her medical degree in 2015 and completed her pediatric residency in 2018 at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. After serving as an attending emergency pediatrician at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital for a year, she completed her Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2022. In her clinical role caring for critically ill and injured children from across the state, Dr. Robinson has developed a strong commitment to improving the care children receive before they arrive at a tertiary children’s hospital. She joined the Children’s of Alabama Community Healthcare Education Simulation (COACHES) Program in 2023 with the goal of expanding its successful hospital-based emergency preparedness training to non-hospital settings such as outpatient clinics and schools. Drawing on her expertise in simulation, pediatric readiness, and education, Dr. Robinson is working to build relationships with outpatient providers, school nurses, and community partners to deliver high-impact simulation training in safe, supportive learning environments. Her primary goal is to ensure that healthcare professionals across Alabama have the knowledge, resources, and processes necessary to respond confidently and effectively to pediatric emergencies.

Stacy Gaither, MSN, RN
Program & Research Coordinator

Stacy Gaither MSN, RN is the Director of Research for the Pediatric Simulation Center at Children’s of Alabama. Mrs. Gaither is a program coordinator for the Children’s of Alabama Community Healthcare Education Simulation (COACHES) Program. She has been a nurse for over 30 years with experience in the operating room and pediatric hematology and oncology. Prior to stepping into her research role in the pediatric simulation center, she was in the position of charge nurse in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Children’s of Alabama. She has presented at regional and international conferences and has co-authored several manuscripts while working in the simulation center. Mrs. Gaither is a member of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the International Pediatric Simulation Society and remains actively involved in simulation based research. She believes that simulation is an important tool in training healthcare providers to care for pediatric patients.

Carrie Norwood, MSHI, BSN, RN, CPN, CHSE
Program Coordinator

Carrie Norwood, MSHI, BSN, RN, CPN, CHSE joined the Children’s of Alabama Community Healthcare Education Simulation (COACHES) team in early 2021 as a program coordinator. Ms. Norwood is also an Advanced Nurse Educator in the Pediatric Simulation Center at Children’s of Alabama. She has been a nurse for over 15 years, all of which has been spent at Children’s of Alabama. Her previous roles include working as a staff nurse in the Special Care Unit for approximately 10 years and physician documentation improvement before joining the simulation team in 2016. She is a member of both the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the International Pediatric Simulation Society and has had the opportunity to present simulation.

Eloise

Eloise is a high fidelity simulation manikin and can range in age from newborn to 18 months depending on each scenario. She breathes, with visible chest rise, and has audible heart, lung, and bowel sounds. She has palpable left radial and brachial pulses, as well as bilateral femoral pulses. Eloise has her own monitor that will display her vital signs. Eloise can vocalize, can be intubated and placed on a ventilator, have a peripheral IV or intraosseous line placed, appear cyanotic, and can seize.

Caleb

Caleb is a high fidelity, wireless simulation manikin that can range in age from 4 to 10 years old depending on the scenario. He breathes, with visible chest rise, and has audible heart, lung, and bowel sounds.  He can speak in multiple languages, has interactive eyes, different facial expressions, and the ability to cry actual tears. Caleb has palpable pulses bilaterally in the carotid, brachial, radial, femoral, and pedal areas, and also has a light that depicts capillary refill.  Caleb has his own monitor that will display vital signs.  He can be intubated and placed on a ventilator, have a peripheral IV or intraosseous line placed, have a chest tube inserted, have a urinary catheter placed with urine flow, and can have his finger stuck to obtain a capillary blood glucose.