Students clutched injuries as they limped toward the courtyard of the School of Nursing which had been turned into a triage station for the Tiger Transit crash. Only there was no crash or injuries.
The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine [VCOM] and the Auburn University School of Nursing hosted a joint disaster simulation Friday at the School of Nursing building.
While this was the second large-scale disaster simulation for VCOM, it was the first large-scale disaster simulation the School of Nursing has done. It was the first simulation on any scale the schools have conducted together.
Sarah Watts, assistant clinical professor for the School of Nursing, and Dr. Glenn Nordehn, doctor of osteopathic medicine and associate dean for simulation and technology at VCOM, along with other professors and deans from the School of Nursing and VCOM worked together for many months to create the large-scale, disaster simulation.
The main goal of the joint simulation, Nordehn said, is to get the future doctors and nurses to learn how to collaborate and communicate with one another.
“The one thing that we try to encourage in all this is team work and collaboration and learning to respect each other,” Watts said. “We’ve been able to see that throughout [the simulation]. It’s kind of neat to see them work together to decide how to care for a patient.”
They want students to be comfortable working together in a disaster-like situation because it is high-stress situation where communication is of the upmost importance.
“A very important part of the curriculum that physicians and nurses be aware of each other’s roles,” Nordehn said. “Get used to knowing each other, working together.”
Before the “accident” and nursing and VCOM students even saw their patients, the nursing and VCOM students were debriefed on the situation unfolding. They were told what had happened, some possible things to expect and some general instructions. Then they headed outside to await the first victims of the “accident.”
Student victims were taken from the “scene” of the accident, also known as the parking lot of the Nursing building, to the courtyard behind the nursing building to have their injuries assessed and categorized from most to least serious.
“That’s where the VCOM and nursing students first start to work together in triage,” Watts said. “They have to identify what’s going on with the patient, what’s wrong with them and give them the appropriate identification.”
Once the student victims were categorized, everyone moved inside to the “emergency rooms” the skills labs with patient rooms and mannequin simulators on the second floor of the Nursing building.
In the “emergency rooms” Nursing and VCOM students worked together to treat the injuries. From implanted debris to fractures, the students had all sorts of injuries to practice treating.
“Patients all, of course, have different injuries,” Watt said. “And we have four patients that do end up losing a pulse and stop breathing. So, they have to do CPR on them.”
The student victim would lay on one bed next to a bed with a mannequin. Nursing and VCOM students would work on the student victim until informed that the student victim had lost their pulse and stopped breathing.
Then the nursing and VCOM students would begin working on the mannequin to get it breathing. Once the mannequin gained their pulse back and was breathing, the nursing and VCOM students went back to working on the student victim.
There were multiple student victims in each simulation, so many that there were no enough beds in the “emergency rooms,” so student victims with minimal injuries were treated in chairs.
All of the student victims were pre-nursing and first year VCOM students and nursing students. They were all excited to be a part of the simulation and found it fun, Watt said.
“I thought it was really neat,” said Mary Isbell, sophomore in pre-nursing. “I think it was a really good experience for all of the nursing students and the VCOM students.”
Each of the student victims were given a slip of paper with what their injury was, how they should act, what was wrong with the victim and how the nursing and VCOM should treat them.
Isbell had a “cut” on her right arm. The nursing students were supposed to treat her wound and then wrap her arm as if it was fractured even though they were unsure if it was. That way, if it was Isbell would not further injure herself.
The nursing professors were very proud of their students. Both how they treated their patients and how they interacted with the VCOM students.
“Everybody I’ve talked to has said they have really learned something and everybody has been really pleased with it,” said Hope Carroll, clinical placement coordinator for the School of Nursing. “I hope they all go away from here learning that healthcare is truly team work.
The student response to the training was similar to the administrator response.
“I think these simulations are very important and vital to our training overall,” said Ernest Philon, second year student at VCOM. “Being prepared for any situation is vital, especially in the field that we’re learning to go into. I think being prepared and understanding the full scope of a disaster is something that’s needed to be a healthcare professional.”
Brianna Wiggins, senior in nursing, had similar thoughts to Philon. They were paired together to quickly work on their patient and discharge them. Having a doctor on hand to help with the diagnostic process made the simulation much easier and lead to their quick discharge, Wiggins said.
“It was a really good exercise between the med students and us,” Wiggins said. “Learning how to do appropriate communication and work together to save our patient.”
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
