and Emergency Training
during the simulations and actively participate in the debriefing
of the scenarios where they share
their unique perspectives and
expertise with the students. Their
participation is essential in validating the importance of nursing
in community settings.
Orienting Students to
Emergency Preparedness
An entire day of class is dedicated
to teaching students about emergency preparedness. Class begins
with a lecture reviewing the
principles of disaster responses
and phases of a mass causality.
Students are pre-briefed on their
roles in the upcoming simulation,
available resources and equipment, anticipated timeframe,
and aspects of scene safety. Since
disasters are inherently unpredictable, students are not given
details of the task expectations or
the array of victim injuries they
will encounter during the simulation. At the end of the emergency
preparedness lecture, students
are told that there is a student recruitment event on the first floor.
Then, an audio file plays, which
sounds like an explosion and shattering glass.
Student Objectives and
Faculty Participants
This simulation, as others, has
specific objectives that students
must meet. Students are expected
to participate in a mass casualty
event acting as a first responder.
Each student must conduct a
disaster scene environmental
safety assessment upon arrival
to the scene and throughout the
simulation. Students are to triage
and treat victims based on their
identified treatment needs and
the resources available to them,
using the SMART tagging system. Each group must identify
a disaster scene team leader. The
students must effectively communicate victim status to the
team leader and/or command
center representative. Students
are expected to deliver bad news
either to victims or their families
in an informative and emotionally
therapeutic manner.
Students are deployed to the first
floor to assist with the situation.
They found several smoke-filled,
poorly-lit rooms. Human actors
behave as if they have injuries
and mannequins exhibit an array
of health conditions and injuries.
Students are assigned to 1 of
10 disaster scenes. They use the
simple triage and rapid treatment (START) method to triage
victims based on both the level
of medical treatment required
and available resources. Students
utilize resources and prioritize
care within their area. When
necessary, they deliver bad news
to individuals and/or families in a
therapeutic manner.
Fall 2016 Pennsylvania Nurse 17