We've Missed You!

Last month we attended INS, our first in-person trade show in over a year-and-a-half!

While life is certainly not “back to normal” it felt so good to be able to meet with our colleagues and customers in person. Video calls and virtual demos have their place, but VATA models come to life in-person. It’s so much more apparent how life-like and anatomically correct our products are when you can see them up close and touch them. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces at our first show back in-person and meet new people too. All that to say, we’ve missed getting together in-person.

We’re cautiously optimistic and have started to plan for more trade shows in the coming months. Booths have been reserved and we even have a few brand-new models we’ll be introducing at some trade shows in 2022.

Thank you for sticking with us throughout this unprecedented time—we hope to see you soon!

Get to Know Mary, Our Incredible Office Manager!

When did you start at VATA?

In April of 2008. I started working at VATA part time doing a job share as my kids were in school. I’ve grown as the business has grown. In 2011, the other office manager left, and I stepped into the role by myself. At that time, I could only work 34 hours a week with my family’s schedule and needs. VATA has always been very sensitive to the needs of our employees and families and supported me to make that work. This was my first job back after being a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, and VATA allowed me to have a flexible schedule so that I could be with my family and be there for my young kids. A family culture has always been important here.

What’s your favorite thing about your work?

I look forward to coming to work every day. Our employees have become my extended family. I really enjoy the variety of my job—taking care of our customers, problem solving, and a lot of forecasting. I love that I get to talk to our customers and distributors all over the world. I haven’t met all these people in person but feel like I know them.

Since November 2020, orders have flooded in, and I have stepped in and helped a lot with shipping. We help Andrew look at the big picture, and he leans on us as a team to make the business run smoothly. We all have a commitment to the company, which is great!

What’s something that might surprise people about VATA?

Tom Call created Chester Chest 30+ years ago in his garage and look how VATA has grown! Today, we are still a small, second generation, family-owned business, and I think it would surprise people that we ship products all over the world.

The Evolution of the Advanced Venipuncture Training Aid

Left: Model 365, designed in 1999.
Middle: Model 1365, designed in 2007.
Right and Below: Current model 2365, designed in 2015.

Our Advanced Venipuncture Training Aid (2365/2366) has been through quite a few iterations over the years! What started out as a model that involved quite a bit of prep and set up has become so much more streamlined. Today’s model requires almost no set up, and is compact and simple to use. Perfect for practicing accessing technique, the 2365 is outfitted with four blue veins in three different sizes and a realistic “flashback” of blood confirms proper needle placement. This model is also incredibly durable—it is leak resistant and can be accessed over 3,000 times.

Two of our team members reflected on the 2365 and its evolution over the years.

“Our advanced venipuncture training aid is on its 4th iteration. I like that we’ve upgraded it over the years. This version is much easier to set up and the compact size is very useful for someone who is a beginner or more advanced. It has so many applications.”

–Mary Nizich

“Our 2365 is a popular model. That wasn’t here when I started so I’ve been around for the entire evolution of it. We’ve done at least four versions of the 2365 and at the beginning it was such a different thing. But it’s just become such a different model and is much more production friendly as well.”

–Reid Hatch

VATA Products Out In The World

"Tom at CRANAplus is very happy to be using VATA’s Venipuncture Training Aids.

CRANAplus is the peak professional body for the remote and isolated health workforce in Australia. We represent, support and educate the remote and isolated health workforce to promote the delivery of safe, high-quality healthcare.

We have rolled out these VATA Training Aids in two of our medical emergency training courses and the feedback from staff and students has been very positive. The simulated feel of the vein is impressive, and the simplicity of operation is great. We particularly appreciate the portability of the equipment too, as the education and training we deliver to the health workforce is local. So far, the VATA Training Aid has proven quite rugged, surviving the equipment transport journey to some very remote destinations like Warakurna in Western Australia. Keep up the great work VATA and we look forward to incorporating more VATA gear to achieve our health professional training goals."

Tom Quinn
Clinical Equipment Specialist, RN
CRANAplus

Image above from a Remote Emergency Care course in Alice Springs, Australia