Disaster Simulation Helps Prepare Future Nurses

Story by Rebecca Ingle

Kettering College’s interprofessional education (IPE) simulation center team recently held an all-day disaster simulation event for senior nursing students to offer them insight into the protocol of a mass casualty event. The event is part of Kettering College’s nursing curriculum to allow students the chance to learn critical skills for disaster response and patient care, while being surrounded by chaos.

Two years ago, Kettering College began a collaboration with an offsite location to host disaster simulations. The 50-acre training center was created solely to prepare first responders and military for disasters by replicating realworld emergencies. The site has the capacity to replicate larger scenarios than the campus could, creating an immersive experience for students.

Phil Smith, Kettering College IPE simulation center coordinator, says this year’s scenario mimicked a chemical factory explosion along with injuries that might occur. At the beginning of the event, student “victims” received moulage to represent injuries ranging in severity from acute to fatal.

Students who were not portraying victims were tasked with finding victims and working under pressure to respond quickly and calmly. Phil says, “The students practiced emergency triage protocols with limited resources to prioritize care for several patients. They also worked through the process of managing and moving surviving victims through a makeshift medical facility, simulating the chaotic aftermath of a disaster.”

Nursing student Hana’a Hindi participated in the disaster simulation event and felt it was a valuable part of her education. She had the opportunity to first be a patient with a critical injury and then a nurse who had to triage patients and determine to which location they should be sent.

She says, “It was a challenging experience to figure out this new triaging experience that was different than what I was used to. However, it gave me more appreciation for all the people who come together to help during disaster events in our community. I now understand the roles of first responders who bring patients to the hospital for nurses, like me, to care for. I’m so thankful for all the Kettering College faculty and staff who made this happen.”