“A multiple-victim accident has been reported on the corner of State Route 34 and State Route 66. All units please respond.”
Lights, sirens and a rush of law enforcement and paramedics flew into action when they heard dispatch come over the radio with the report of this car accident right outside the doors of Four County Career Center. What made this situation unique? Instructors were standing by with clipboards, video cameras and red pens, proud to watch their students in action, and fully prepared to make notes of constructive feedback that would help their students save lives.
Our goal is always to provide our students with as much hands-on learning as we can, so they are prepared to walk into a hospital after graduation and start saving lives.
This simulated accident was an opportunity for student to gain valuable hands-on experience. In situations where tensions run high and every move can mean the difference between life and death, it is imperative that first responders and nurses have the confidence and skills to react quickly and efficiently. That is why Northwest State Community College and Four County Career Center have partnered to develop this interprofessional trauma simulation for their nursing and paramedic students.
“Our goal is always to provide our students with as much hands-on learning as we can, so they are prepared to walk into a hospital after graduation and start saving lives,” said Bette Hughes, nursing lab coordinator at NSCC. “With the addition of our new nursing lab in 2011, we had the unique opportunity to give our students the added experience of working with state-of-the-art mannequins and simulators in a hospital-like setting. It just made sense to take that one step further and simulate an accident from start to finish, including paramedic students.”
The trauma simulation, held once every semester, includes nursing students from NSCC and law enforcement, emergency medical dispatch and paramedic students from Four County Career Center. The simulation has expanded to include up to four victims, an air ambulance, and an emergency room situation. The first half of the simulation uses volunteer ‘victims’ who need to be extracted from wrecked cars at the scene of the accident, triaged and then sent on for further care. Once the victims arrive in the ER, they are replaced by simulation mannequins, one of which depicts a pregnant victim who gives birth with varying complications. To make the simulation even more true to life, nursing students also have to balance their time caring for up to four other standardized patients (actors who act out specific ailments) who were already in the emergency room at the time of the accident.
“With the simulation mannequin, the nursing students must immediately react to any number of complications that arise with the patient,” said Hughes. “It is all coordinated from a control room where instructors can watch and record the students without being in the way.”
When it is all over, the students and instructors sit down to talk about the simulation, review the video and give immediate feedback on what went well, and what the students need to work on. These sessions give students a chance to reflect, not only on the unpredictability of the trauma situation, but also to sort through their personal reactions to the high stress environments that they will routinely encounter in their future careers.
