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From Flight Line to Frontline: Kyle Clements on the Power of Simulation
Before Kyle Clements ever stepped into a simulation lab, he was learning medicine at 30,000 feet.
His journey began in the Tennessee Air National Guard. Hoping to work on aircraft, he was instead offered a path in medical evacuation — a role that would send him into the sky aboard flying hospitals, helping care for patients in critical moments. “I was good at Boy Scout first aid,” he recalls with a laugh. “Why not?”
But it wasn’t long before Kyle’s experience in air medical opened a different door: healthcare simulation.
“I encountered simulators during training — very basic stuff at first,” he says. “But once I started running a simulation center, I saw how much more they could be. I wanted to make them real. Make them matter.”
Today, Kyle serves as a Simulation Operations Specialist at Elevate Healthcare. While his title leans technical, his day-to-day is deeply educational. He trains clinicians, enhances simulator realism, and works closely with programs to ensure that simulation feels like practice — not performance.
“It’s not just a manikin on a bed,” he says. “You practice like you play. You make mistakes on plastic, not on people.”
One moment stands out in Kyle’s memory: the first time he ran a simulation debrief solo. “I was able to guide the learners to their own answer — not tell them what they did wrong, but help them realize it for themselves. That ‘aha’ moment? That’s where it’s at. That’s what I’m always chasing.”
That mindset — empowering others through experience — is what defines Kyle’s role at Elevate Healthcare. He’s not just showing how to use a simulator. He’s modeling what it means to think critically, respond with confidence, and lead with humility.
And even though he’s quick to shrug off recognition, Kyle’s impact is undeniable.
“You never know what’s coming when the back of the bus or the plane opens up,” he says. “Simulation prepares you for the unpredictable. When things go sideways, you rely on your training. You flip the switch and go.”
At Elevate Healthcare, Kyle’s mission is simple but powerful: make that training count. So when that switch flips — in the back of an ambulance, a medevac aircraft, or a hospital trauma bay — the people holding the line are ready.