DNE final year students, RRL stage ‘Operation Seek and Save’

The Division of Nursing Education (DNE) teamed up with the Rainbow Radio League Inc (RRL) to stage an annual mass casualty management (MCM) simulation to give final year student nurses ‘hands on’ experience in handling a mass casualty scenario.

The event was staged in the Kearton’s area, along the Wallilabou river on Friday, December 16, 2016.{{more}}

The main object of the exercise was to prepare final year student nurses to effectively respond to an emergency, test students’ emergency response techniques, evaluating students’ ability to triage trauma cases in a near real life scenario.

The scenario involved several hikers who were traversing the Wallilabou river which ‘came down’ without warning, sweeping away five persons, leaving one dead, another suffering the amputation of an arm, another with a broken ankle and two others with varying degrees and types of injuries.

Students were picnicking on the Wallilabou beach when they received a distress call. After finding out the exact location of the accident, and number of persons unaccounted for, a search and rescue team was dispatched on foot to the scene of the accident, about half a mile away. After the victims were located, an initial assessment was made prior to triaging and stabilizing of the victims. The most critical cases were sent to the advance medical post for further evaluation and preparation for travel to the nearest hospital for advanced medical care.

As is customary and necessary, a post event evaluation was conducted, where strengths and weaknesses were identified, so that students could correct any mistakes, and those students who performed admirably could be commended.

MCM course coordinator Raphael John, who is a lecturer at the Division of Nursing Education, was assisted by guest lecturer Donald De Riggs (director of the RRL), who dealt with the area of emergency communications. DNE lecturers serving as evaluators for this training exercise included Rhonda Stapleton, Veithlyn France and Hilton James.

Overall, the MCM exercise was a success in terms of the seriousness with which the students applied themselves to the scenario, as well as applying techniques learnt during their three-year course. This field exercise was the final major practical activity for the student nurses of Batch 39. (Report submitted by: Donald De Riggs.)