East Ohio College nursing students take part in mass casualty simulation
A mass casualty simulation was held last Thursday for nursing students from East Ohio College in Calcutta. Personnel from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department, St. Clair Township Police Department and Lifeteam participated. Fire fighters Jacob Roush and Lt. Randy Schneider from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department carry nursing student Kyle Weaver, playing the role of an injured person, from the building during a mass casualty simulation hold to give graduating nursing students a dose of what a real-life emergency could be like. More photos on page A9 and the full gallery at reviewonline.com (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Graduating nursing student Christa Green who was assigned the task of search, rescue and treat helps Sydney Boyker playing the role of an injured student exit a building during a mass casualty simulation held by the East Ohio College Nursing Program. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Graduating nursing student Evan Kovacevic checks the vitals and for signs of life on an injured student during a mass casualty simulation held by the East Ohio College Nursing Program. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
East Ohio College nursing students Jennifer Luyster, Caitlyn Rike and Johnneeckquia Hopkins carry student Ericka Withrow, playing the role of an injured student to safety during a mass casualty simulation. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Assisted by a firefighter from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department, East Ohio College nursing students Stephie Cogis and Christa Green check for signs of life in an injured student during a mock mass casualty event. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Graduating East Ohio College nursing students Evan Kovacevic and Jordan Webb determine the injured student they located during search and rescue portion of a mock mass casualty event did not survive the head trauma received during an explosion while firefighters from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department search the room for other victims/survivors. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
East Ohio College nursing student Stephanie Toy, acting the part of a student who suffered a head injury during an explosion at the school as part of a mass casualty simulation event waits for assistance to be removed from the building and treated. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Firefighters from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department walk the dark hallways of East Ohio College in Calcutta after a mock explosion searching for victims after putting out a mock fire during a mass casualty simulation event held by the college’s nursing program. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Tents are set up outside to sort injuries and prioritize need for treatment of those rescued from an explosion in a chemistry lab during a mass casualty simulation event held for nursing students at East Ohio College in Calcutta. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Theatrical makeup was used on many students such as Cheyenne Hobbs and Sheyenne Kolling to create wounds for nursing students to assess and treats following a mock explosion for a mass casualty simulation held for nursing students at East Ohio College in Calcutta. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Members from Calcutt a Volunteer Fire Department, St. Clair Township Police Department and Lifeteam gather for a group photos with the nursing students from East Ohio College in Calcutta from a mass casualty exercise they all participated in. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
A mass casualty simulation was held last Thursday for nursing students from East Ohio College in Calcutta. Personnel from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department, St. Clair Township Police Department and Lifeteam participated. Fire fighters Jacob Roush and Lt. Randy Schneider from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department carry nursing student Kyle Weaver, playing the role of an injured person, from the building during a mass casualty simulation hold to give graduating nursing students a dose of what a real-life emergency could be like. More photos on page A9 and the full gallery at reviewonline.com (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Graduating nursing student Christa Green who was assigned the task of search, rescue and treat helps Sydney Boyker playing the role of an injured student exit a building during a mass casualty simulation held by the East Ohio College Nursing Program. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Graduating nursing student Evan Kovacevic checks the vitals and for signs of life on an injured student during a mass casualty simulation held by the East Ohio College Nursing Program. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
East Ohio College nursing students Jennifer Luyster, Caitlyn Rike and Johnneeckquia Hopkins carry student Ericka Withrow, playing the role of an injured student to safety during a mass casualty simulation. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Assisted by a firefighter from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department, East Ohio College nursing students Stephie Cogis and Christa Green check for signs of life in an injured student during a mock mass casualty event. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Graduating East Ohio College nursing students Evan Kovacevic and Jordan Webb determine the injured student they located during search and rescue portion of a mock mass casualty event did not survive the head trauma received during an explosion while firefighters from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department search the room for other victims/survivors. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
East Ohio College nursing student Stephanie Toy, acting the part of a student who suffered a head injury during an explosion at the school as part of a mass casualty simulation event waits for assistance to be removed from the building and treated. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Firefighters from the Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department walk the dark hallways of East Ohio College in Calcutta after a mock explosion searching for victims after putting out a mock fire during a mass casualty simulation event held by the college’s nursing program. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Tents are set up outside to sort injuries and prioritize need for treatment of those rescued from an explosion in a chemistry lab during a mass casualty simulation event held for nursing students at East Ohio College in Calcutta. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Theatrical makeup was used on many students such as Cheyenne Hobbs and Sheyenne Kolling to create wounds for nursing students to assess and treats following a mock explosion for a mass casualty simulation held for nursing students at East Ohio College in Calcutta. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Members from Calcutt a Volunteer Fire Department, St. Clair Township Police Department and Lifeteam gather for a group photos with the nursing students from East Ohio College in Calcutta from a mass casualty exercise they all participated in. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
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ST. CLAIR -- East Ohio College graduating nursing students recently gained mass casualty experience as Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department, St. Clair Police Department and Lifeteam teamed up with the college Sept. 15 to host a simulation to give the graduating students some real-world experience before leaving school.
The simulation was to mimic an explosion in a college chemistry lab caused by students improperly mixing chemicals.
The drill began with an alarm sounding and firefighters going into a dark foggy hallway to find and extinguish the fire, followed by firefighters and medics going room to room down a dark smoky hallway with the graduating students to clear the rooms. The students were tasked with finding victims and identifying those alive from those fatally injured and getting the injured students out of the building.
Once out of the building the injured students were taken to a decontamination tent to be cleared of any chemicals and then sorted into tents based on the severity of their injuries, ranking from walking injured to severely injured and needing immediate treatment.
Due to it being a chemical explosion, to make sure those treating them remained safe, all patients were taken to a white tent for decontamination before being triaged and typed by injury and sent off to corresponding colored tents. Patients typed as needing immediate medical attention for life threatening injuries were sorted into a red tent, those with injuries that could have treatment delayed a bit were sent to a yellow tent and the walking injured or those with minor injuries were directed to a green tent.
Approximately 35 volunteers consisting of the current cohort (class of 2025) and their family and friends played the role of victims needing rescued or treated, and the 30 graduating students participated as search and rescue. The victims had various injuries including a pair of scissors impaled in one student's abdomen. All injuries were created with makeup/paint.
Students, staff and first responders all agreed the mass casualty simulation, which the college plans to hold annually, was beneficial to all involved.
Medic Jeramiah Cole, Lifeteam, said he thought it was an interesting experience for all the nursing students to see what happens in the field.
"These events are few and far between and thank God we don't see many of them, but it's eye opening for the nurses to see what happens before the patient gets to them," Cole said.
Assistant Fire Chief Shane Hamilton, Calcutta VFD, said one of the main benefits to this type of training is getting a good focus on who is available to use as personnel should an explosion like that ever happen.
"This equally benefitted us as this is the perfect time for us to learn this stuff when it's not the real deal and the perfect time for the students to learn." Hamilton said. "I think they did great. You wouldn't have guessed that they are students by the way they did their jobs inside. Their patient contacts were remarkable. I was very impressed."
Paramedic Karl Griggs said he thought the drill was beneficial because it would help to for any kind of disasters.
"These arise so infrequently that if you don't train for that scenario, it's not going to be fresh in peoples' minds on how to deal with it and how to decrease some of that chaos by trying to make it organized chaos is beneficial should something like this ever happen," Griggs said.
Student Christa Green said it was a lot of fun and it was a good learning experience.
"Honestly something like this isn't something you can really prepare for. I think it just gives us an insight on what to expect if it really does happen so that way we are not as panicky," she said.
Student Dana Cayton, who has been a medic for 20 years before going to college for nursing, thought the training was great because it was preparing the students for real-life scenarios especially in industrial area.
Amand Bednarek, East Ohio College, said they have done a drill like this for the past two years and it keeps getting bigger each time.
"It's really important for the seniors to be involved in a scenario like this," Bednark said. "This has been an amazing experience for all of them. The fire department has been a great team and has already volunteered to take the next steps with us over the next year or two for a very real-life occurrence event. They have been phenomenal and have made that commitment to plan over the next year."
Tammy Clutter, East Ohio College, said she wanted to send a big thank to the police, fire and medics who came to help with the drill.
kgarabrandt@mojonews.com