SEARCY — The scenario was this: A gas-line explosion had just occurred at a football field, injuring 25 to 30 students. Their bodies were burned, bleeding and scattered across the field, and students from Arkansas State University’s Beebe, Heber Springs and Searcy campuses — who just happened to be passing through on a trip — had to assess the situation and “save lives” with the help of one ambulance.
ASU-Beebe’s first intercollaborative mass-casualty simulation took place at the ASU-Beebe at Searcy campus on the evening of Nov. 17. The school’s EMT/paramedic and practical-nursing programs held the mass simulation using about 25 Beebe High School Junior ROTC cadets as “victims.”
“[We wanted] to make this as real-world as possible so that when our students leave school and they experience the real world, they’re as prepared as we can make them for what they need to know,” said Justin Allen, event coordinator and EMT/paramedic adjunct instructor.
University students were divided into teams of four: a paramedic, an EMT and two nurses. EMTs were tasked with surveying the area first to find the “victims,” who were lying in the field, parking lots and behind buildings screaming for help.
EMTs tagged “victims” with a color — green for the walking wounded, yellow for needs treatment, red for needs urgent treatment and black for deceased or near-death — and reported the injuries to fellow team members.
Nursing students and paramedics then arrived on the scene for on-site treatment and called for the ambulance as needed.
The simulation included a triage station set up outside of the school’s nursing building and a “hospital,” which was a room in the nursing building that includes eight beds for hands-on learning. The ambulance, which was donated to the Searcy campus’s EMT/paramedic program, transported “victims” to the hospital.
“We moulaged [the victims], which means we made them look like they had wounds and burns,” said Cindy Smith, director of nursing.
Benny Harvey, 16, a junior at Beebe High School, said it took about an hour for the ROTC cadets to be moulaged. Harvey’s character for the simulation had a bleeding head injury, burned arms and no pulse.
“I thought it was really unique because most people can’t say they get to take part in something like this, so I felt kind of proud, kind of honored to be able to come and be one of only 25 people to be able to do this,” he said.
Tiffany Vail, a practical-nurse student at the ASU-Heber Springs campus, said the mass-casualty simulation was a great opportunity.
“I felt like, ‘Am I going to be prepared enough to really help?’ because this is out of the hospital setting, but it’s interesting,” Vail said while applying sterile pads and pressure to a “victim” with an open chest wound. “It’s definitely fun to be part of, to get to see different skills.”
Tristen Richardson, a 17-year-old senior at the high school, said she thought participating as an actor in the simulation was fun. Her injuries for her character included a brain injury, bleeding from the ear, burned arms and confusion.
“I’d love to help them, plus you get to act, and this looks pretty cool,” she said of her injuries. “[The nursing faculty] said, ‘Be as difficult as you can to the people.’”
Vanessa Wilson, a nursing student at the Searcy campus, spent time on the ground with a “victim” who had a burn, a face abrasion, an elbow wound, a possible dislocated shoulder and increased confusion.
“I was excited to learn about how to handle a situation like this as a student nurse. As a responder, [I’m] terrified because this would be my first time doing something like this,” she said while comforting a “victim” and waiting for paramedic assistance. “I really want to make sure that I’m going to be able to give the best care possible and help my patient.”
Wilson said the opportunity for a mass-casualty simulation on campus was an awesome learning experience because it allowed a more hands-on situation than a theory class or a clinic setting would allow.
“It’s good to have the experience to learn how to handle it,” she said. “In case it does really happen, we’ll be better prepared to understand what to do.”
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.