EMT students-in-training participate in mock mass-casualty training at CTE Academy
One year ago, tornadoes and straight-line winds hit southeastern South Dakota, with a derecho causing two deaths in the Sioux Falls area alone.
On Friday, a year after that incident, students in the Career and Technical Education Academy’s EMT (emergency medical technician) class trained for incidents just like that one and more — including a major car crash — in a mock mass-casualty simulation exercise.
EMT students were tasked with “triage, treatment and transport” as they scoured the building for their injured peers from other CTE programs who were assigned roles to act as though they were in shock, had been hit by a car, lost a finger, were bleeding out or worse, enhancing the realism of the exercise.
For example, some students were lying on the ground playing dead; one student was assigned to only speak in Spanish, and was yelling “Yo no hablo ingles;” one student was yelling about how he’d lost his favorite finger.
First responders from the Sioux Falls Police Department, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue and Patient Care EMS/Ambulance Service worked alongside the students in triaging the student “patients” — assessing which ones had the most dire needs — treating injuries right away, and transporting the student “patients” onto an ambulance or AmbuBus.
More: This new 'AmbuBus' can help transport a dozen patients at a time in Sioux Falls
Don’t worry — none of the emergencies were real. Students hauled onto ambulances or the AmbuBus just went for a lap around the building. Police cars and fire trucks were stationed at the building throughout the day as part of the hands-on exercise valuable to students.
EMT teacher Amy Drummond said the simulation gave her students a realistic experience pulling all of their skills together that will help them with the medical or first-responder careers they might seek after graduation. All of her students are EMT-certified upon graduation.
Ethan Wasmund, 18, a senior at Lincoln High School, said he found the simulation “cool” because it helped him learn more in-depth.
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“It’s more realistic than classroom dummies,” he said of the training. He plans to attend South Dakota State University for pre-med when he graduates.
Hannah Stagman, 18, a senior at Harrisburg High School, said she found the training “fun and eye-opening.” She hopes to become a law enforcement officer with the Sioux Falls Police Department or Highway Patrol later.
“You don’t know half the stuff that goes on behind the scenes until you’re in it,” she said of the experience.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: EMT students at CTE Academy train in mock mass-casualty simulation
