January 10, 2015
MARSHALL, Texas (1/09/15) - A mock disaster of a vehicle crash with injuries occurred on the East Texas Baptist University Cornish Soccer Field during the past fall semester. The ones responding to the planned chaos were ETBU nursing students; the practice exercise was planned by students in the Medical Surgical II class.
The staged emergency scene began at midfield when a vehicle at a marathon race crashed into a propane tank, causing an explosion. The pretend explosion caused glass and metal to be projected into the air as well as fires burning in the area. The fires were props made out of red and orange tissue paper to portray raging flames, and the vehicle was made out of cardboard. The crash caused many injuries both to runners and bystanders; some of the actors were thrown from the scene by the explosion resulting in one fatality from drowning in a fake pond.
"The planning of the drill began with a group of students called the drill coordinators," said Martha Dudley, ETBU Assistant Professor of Nursing. "The coordinators were Jordan Rosenberger of Waxahachie, Nicole Salom of Rowlett, and Ashley Tyau of Victoria and they volunteered to plan the mock disaster, prepare the supplies, and educate the crew."
Dr. Rebekah Grigsby, Dean of the Groner School of Professional Studies (Department of Nursing), saw the simulated disaster as a fantastic opportunity for the students. "When our students graduate, they leave the ETBU campus and enter the practice arena where they become responsible for people's lives and are also expected to take on leadership roles in their work organization and their communities," remarked Dr. Grigsby.
She also added, "Our simulated disaster offered them not only the experience of triaging and treating patients during a crisis, but also the opportunity to plan a program from beginning to end and then evaluate! Learning by doing, and they did great!"
The mock drill allows the senior nursing students in the class taught by Dudley to learn from a totally different perspective. Students played the role of victims, bystanders and first responders. The coordinators planned real-time problems. Another element to the drill was that no one knew what their role would be until one hour before the exercise.
"The drill was based on triaging in the field, with a concept of having many victims, with very little medical staff and supplies to care for them," Dudley said. The drill had only a doctor, Joe McRee of Longview; a nurse, Marisa Fox of Magnolia; and Stephanie Darst of Ennis, nurse's aide, as the medical team responding to the scene.
"I learned that disasters are chaotic," said Fox. "It takes a lot of skill to be able to triage people so quickly. It is never going to be organized, so practicing in a chaotic situation is the best way to get prepared."
Pamela Evans of Marshall, who wants to become a nurse because she has a desire to care for people, portrayed a runner in the mock disaster. "I experienced a panic attack after witnessing the explosion while running in the race," said Evans. "It really put into perspective that if that were to occur, the nurse would be responsible for many injured and critical people."
Another student who portrayed a victim was Paigen Gilford of Goodrich. Gilford wants to be a nurse because she sees her calling on this earth as one to serve others and be an extension of God's hands. She sees nursing as a vocation that will allow her to fulfill her call to service.
"My experience as a victim with injuries was a lesson that disasters may strike at any time and that we have to utilize what we have to save lives," shared Gilford. "I learned from the experience that although we may not always be in our element of comfort we have been called to value lives and to be quick on our feet."
"People are screaming, there are not enough health care professionals to take care of everybody, there are not enough supplies to go around, and everybody is freaking out," is how Lauren Fedor of Canton described the drill. "I had only minor injuries in the mock disaster because I was further away from the blast. As I was looking around at everyone playing their parts I saw people near death or dead and realized how traumatizing that can be for someone."
Fedor has always dreamed of becoming a nurse. "When I was little, I was always the one who wanted to take care of people. It is what God has called me do," shared Fedor. Her assessment of what she learned from the training was "a disaster such as this one not only produces physical trauma, but psychological trauma that can linger for a long time. It is important to not only treat the physical issues, but the psychological ones as well."
After the drill concluded Dudley brought her students back inside to the classroom for a debriefing. The future nurses discussed what happened or did not happen during the mock drill.
"The first problem that was identified was working with all of the chaos," Dudley said. "The responders didn't know who needed medical attention first, and felt overwhelmed with all of the disorder."
"Another problem was the lack of supplies in the field. Unlike the hospital setting, where the supplies are centrally located, working in the field is very difficult and would be hard to prepare for without knowing exactly what the disaster would be," continued Dudley.
The lack of communication was also discussed. "It was hard for the response team to know what had already been done, or how to prioritize what needed to be done," said Dudley. "The biggest benefit of the mock drill for the student is having to 'think outside the box' during a time of crisis."
Some of these senior nursing students after receiving their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from ETBU will be working in a hospital. Every hospital department has a disaster plan and does drills similar to what these students experienced in order to be prepared in case of an emergency.
"We pray that disasters will never happen, but we must be prepared if they do," said Fedor.
Dr. Grigsby echoed what Fedor said, "We never want a disaster to happen, in fact we don't want people to be sick or injured, but we do want our nursing students to be prepared, know how to assess the situation and respond effectively to treat and care for the individuals involved. It's the reality of what we are called to do, which sometimes means caring for those involved in a crisis."
The Actors in the Mock Disaster Drill
Drill Coordinators
Jordan Rosenberger
Nicole Salom
Ashley Tyau
Martha Dudley- Driver of the car
Dr. Rebekah Grigsby- passenger in the car
(both the driver and the passenger died)
Responders
Joe McRee-Doctor
Marisa Fox- Nurse
Stephanie Darst- Nurse Aid
Runners in the Marathon
Pamela Evens- (severe uncontrolled anxiety)
Lauren Fedor- (severe painful abrasions on hands and knees)
Macy Freeman- (severe headache)
Paigen Gilford- (metal from the car was lodged in her chest)
Ashley Lindsey- (impaled object in the femoral vein of her leg)
Maria Quintero- (thrown into the pond- and died)
Kayla Taylor- (80% of her body was burned)
Bystanders
Meagan Bartlett
Julie Chaler- (shards of glass covering her body and burns)
Russell Chandler- (shards of glass and burns on her body; unable to move her legs)
Xiomara Wilson