Around 170 students from the Texas Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) and Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine (TTUSVM) got first-hand experience in handling a disaster for both humans and animals during a staged Disaster Day at the TTUSVM facility on Friday afternoon, March 6.
This year’s scenario was a major flash flood incident, which has happened many times before in this area.
Over the course of the event that lasted about four hours, both nursing and veterinarian students, with supporting staff, were given insight into both aspects of a disaster scene, using stuffed animals and actors to give students a “real world” experience of responding in a critical life-threatening situation that can quickly materialize in our area.
The simulation is a yearly happening, staged with the help of the TTU School of Medicine, Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy, School of Nursing, School of Health Professions and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. They team up with emergency personnel who have devised realistic scenarios for humans and animals within a controlled simulation.
TTUHSC in Lubbock is also initiating a similar drill on Friday, March 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to information presented at the event.
The Amarillo demonstration also involved around 35 “patients” with realistic wounds, working in the triage station, and another 70 volunteers helping. Makeup was applied on actors to mock real injuries, and actors played their parts well, calling out for help.
Students were broken up into teams and went from station to station to diagnose, treat and care for the flood victims.
The mock-demonstration was based on a flood scenario which brought in local ER workers, ambulances, actors and instructors to guide students in what to do in an unthinkable situation — which is becoming all too familiar in the Panhandle and other areas, mostly from weather — but could also be applied other deadly situations. Without proper training, it can become chaotic and out of hand quickly.
Renee Bogschutz, associate provost for interprofessional and collaborative curriculum, explained why the training is necessary. “It is built around moments in time that a responder might face during a disaster,” she said. “Because you’re in West Texas, it’s not if a disaster hits, but when, and we want our students to be able to respond …. to have that muscle memory of knowing what to do, when to do it and how.”
“We know flash floods happen, and it has a great impact on communities, agribusiness and individuals,” she added. “We want our students to know that it’s not just one disaster that’s going to hit your community but a wide variety, and we want them to have the skills to respond no matter where they are.”
Rescuing people and animals, taught for emergency situations
Bogschutz said that they tried to take a disaster situation and pull in moments in time to simulate the experience. “There will be a shelter in such a situation,” she said of the event’s first station. “So, this is all about how we take care of community members at a shelter — their medical, mental health, emotional needs and family and pet needs along with agribusiness animal needs.”
The next station addressed what to do if an animal, such as a horse, has escaped. “We have an animal rescue center where students learn how to tie ropes and harness animals, pull a trapped animal out of a trailer and work as a team to solve and rescue animals,” she said. “We have a lift station where they learn a team lift, because as you’re rescuing people, you need to know how to do that safely and protect your back, work as a team and communicate the lifts.”
Bogschutz stressed that they have partnerships with Amarillo Fire and Rescue and EMS, who were there to help them learn how to rescue and put individuals in and out of the ambulance and how to lift them. They also taught them how to stop the bleeding and do basic resuscitation skills as a team.
“We have vet students and nursing students along with professionals to share their knowledge in both areas to help them learn to work as a team in healthcare,” she said.
Students learned how to pull an animal out of a trailer along with how to protect themselves when the animals is scared and in pain, because they can kick or bite or last out and hurt someone unknowingly.
The training also showed students how to be confident in showing up for their community after learning their skills. “You don’t get a second chance if you hurt your back,” Bogschutz warned students.
Learning in a better way, helping through experience
Mikala Cain, a third-year student at TTUSVM, said that the exercise was a better way of teaching students to be of service to veterinarians in the community and farmers and ranchers, in helping them take care of their animals, and how to triage patients in a quick manner in any kind of disaster.
“It’s really important to learn the aspect of human and animal health in order to be able to work together as a community to help our whole science students in being able to triage those patients,” she said. “It’s a really good opportunity to be able to know how to lend a hand wherever it’s needed in these disaster outbreaks.”
Cain said she had learned how to stop, take a breath and assess the situation in a calm manner and not freak out and keep your patients calm while working as a team. “It’s been eye-opening to see just how much can happen in a quick time, especially in the past few years and to be able to lend a helping hand, to know I don’t need to be nervous — that I have the skills that I’ve been trained to have to keep people calm and handle situations in the quickest time,” she said.
The first station featured a rescue or triage center, where victims of a disaster are often travel or are first sent. Other stations included different stages of emergency response, including rescue, life support and first aid.
Ryan Aleander Laibernon, a second semester TTUHSC nursing student, said he planned to go into pediatrics, and that this was his first time to participate. “I can share my knowledge as a nurse with the veterinarians, and they’ll share their knowledge with me, like a group project,” he said. Laibernon said that he was excited to sign up for the experience of learning what to expect in the real world, even though they were working with some mannequins and fake animals.
Third-year TTUSVM veterinary student Justin Crumpton said that this was his first year to participate in the simulation. Crumpton said that the experience was 100% important. “When implementing this into the real-world during disasters, we focus on what are called health principles, which focus on human health, animal health and environmental health. Tying these aspects together is important in these situations,” he said.
“In getting ready for natural disasters, veterinarians would be called upon due to the impact on livestock, family households and collaborating with human health associate,” Crumpton said. “In these situations, we’re going to be looked to as leaders, and really having to get a hold on situation of trying to make sure everybody’s taken care of and wanting us to help. It’s really important for us to practice this now so we can be effective and have leadership qualities in the near future.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: TTUHSC students get first-hand training at Disaster Day
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
