Texas A&M Health and Science Center Uses Mass Casualty Simulation to Prepare Nursing Students for Future Careers
Earlier this month, the Texas A&M Health and Science Center held an event called Disaster Day, a mass casualty simulation to help prepare nursing students and other health science students for their future careers. The simulation was held in a gymnasium filled with approximately 400 volunteer victims affected by a tornado that touched down near Houston.
Matt Ward, a student leader for Disaster Day, tells TheBatt.com, “We have the largest simulation in the nation for running a disaster day. We have college of nursing, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary staff and biomedical sciences all here today. It’s important to get all of those communities together, because we have over 300 students on staff to help the patients that are here.”
As approximately 300 students entered the gymnasium, they were instructed to mark victims with green (not critical), yellow (need care), red (critical), or black (deceased) triage tags to determine their necessary level of care. The students were faced with a number of simulated emergencies from birthing mothers and mentally ill victims to lacerations, broken bones, and tree branches lodged in bodies. Simulation conditions included that all nearby hospitals were at full capacity so all medical work had to be completed on site.
College of Nursing Assistant Professor Alison Pittman tells TheBatt.com, “There are two nurses assigned to each row in the disaster and there is one provider assigned to each row. So they gave to triage their patients and decide who needs to be treated first, second, third.” The simulation provided an opportunity for students to experience a fast-paced emergency situation to prepare for potential catastrophes they might experience in their medical career.
To learn more about Texas A&M’s Disaster Day mass casualty simulation training, visit here.