Widener Nursing Students Test Skills in Disaster Drill

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

From Delco Times

10/18/19 by Peter Bannon

Chester, PA: Widener nursing students test skills in disaster drill

Quote

An explosion, then smoke, screams and sirens. This was the scene at Widener University Schwartz Athletic Center Thursday as a simulated yet intense emergency disaster drill was held for 140 senior nursing students to test their classroom learning and skill sets.

The School of Nursing collaborated with local and state emergency response agencies and medical centers across eight states and three counties, including the Pennsylvania Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Preparedness, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Surge Medical Assistance Response Team, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, the Chester Police Department and the Chester Fire Department.

After the initial explosion, 100 students playing the roles of victims, complete with dramatic theater-quality makeup, stumbled across the gymnasium floor in various states of injury and panic.

Nursing students functioning as triage nurses began the daunting task of proper triage protocol for the large-scale disaster....

...We like the idea of doing the mass casualty drill, especially the burn exercise,” said Timothy Boyce, director of Delaware County's Department of Emergency Services and as the county's emergency management coordinator. “Burns take up a lot of resources and require a lot of coordination back at the communications center. This is a real good opportunity because volume matters. You know with any emergency response you can table top four, five eight or ten victims, but when it comes to moving 50 or 60 badly injured people there is no substitute for actually trying.”...

What does your area nursing programs do to teach emergency disaster nursing?