Mass casualty drill prepares Calhoun students for 'tragic reality'

Mar. 24—Jessa Wylie was sitting in a test center at Calhoun Community College and had no time to react when a masked gunman entered and started shooting, striking her in the lower face and breaking her jaw.

Wylie was one of dozens of "victims" Thursday in a simulated mass casualty drill that began at 9 a.m. at Calhoun's Decatur campus in one of the testing facilities.

Mark Branon, Calhoun's interim dean of Health Sciences, said this was the 13th annual simulation. He said they have held a variety of different mass casualty drills over the years.

"Today was a domestic issue with a disgruntled student on campus that decided to start shooting in a testing center," Branon said. "It was a full testing lab, 75-plus students in there. A student walked in the back of the room and just opened fire on students. The students only had two ways in and out of the room: One was a back emergency exit and then one was where the shooter was. They were pinned down."

Wylie, 23, from New Market, said when the masked gunman entered the center, everyone started screaming.

"I was unable to scream because of my jaw but I was trying to motion for help as best I could," she said. "It was a little frightening to hear the blanks go off and ... being lifted into the ambulance. It was also a little frightening seeing all my friends help me."

Wylie's neck and T-shirt were covered with fake blood as she was transported by ambulance across campus to the Health Sciences Building, which served as a hospital in the simulation. It was determined that she would be sent to an operating room for surgery.

"I think unfortunately with the climate of the nation right now it's important for us to know how to handle something like this, especially as paramedics and nurses," Wylie said. "It kind of put it into a more tangible understanding. I learned all of it textbook-wise, but it's good to be able to see step-by-step, in-person."

This was Wylie's first mass casualty simulation. She is in her final semester at Calhoun's Decatur campus as a nursing student.

Branon said the goal of the simulation was to give students practice in handling a traumatic event.

"Do we expect everything to go perfect, no," he said. "But what we do expect is we expect to see our students learn from the event."

There were over 200 students participating in the simulation, Branon said, many of them studying emergency medical services.

"EMT and paramedic students, they managed the scene, and then in (the Health Sciences Building) it was our nursing students, our medical lab students," he said. "Even our dental and physical therapy students got involved because several of them were patients. It was the entire health sciences team."

Branon said there were at least 10 ambulances, among other emergency vehicles and personnel, at the event.

"We have fire departments, Madison Fire Department, Decatur Fire Department. We have law enforcement agencies," he said.

Bethany Ring, 35, from Madison, is in her final nursing semester at the Huntsville campus and was considered a fatality during the drill.

"We saw the shooter come in; we were in the second room. He went into the right side of the computer lab, shot those students, came through the doors, shot in our room," she said. "We were in a computer lab doing an exam and didn't have time to respond before we got shot."

Ring was shot in the back of the head while sitting at a computer and was pronounced dead at the scene.

"It was very chaotic, very loud, people were screaming, so I feel like there was a sense of terror that went along with the whole thing," she said.

This was Ring's first mass-casualty drill. She said she felt the event was important.

"The tragic reality of our society is that mass-casualty events happen and for people in our field, the medical field, law enforcement, this is going to be a part of our life," Ring said. "For the medical professionals, you need to know how you're going to react in that scenario, how to help as many people as possible."

Audrey Black, Lakin Persell and Kaitlyn Clark, who are all in their final semester, were emergency room charge nurses during their first simulation and directed the ER.

Persell, 21, said that during the event, "I felt adrenaline even though this was a simulation. I'm going to Huntsville's ER once I graduate and it just felt like good preparation for what could inevitably happen in the future. It was a good time to train."

Clark, 25, from Decatur, said her initial reaction to hearing about the mass casualty was to be scared, but that did not last.

"Adrenaline kicked in, your fight or flight. ... It was definitely scary and definitely true because it could happen any day," she said. "It is so important to be prepared for things like these."

Persell said the simulation was important for this area given its tourist attractions and tornadoes.

"Mass casualties can happen all the time at anytime so it's good to be prepared, no matter what field you're going into," he said.

Branon said the drills are a success regardless of how well the students react.

"All you have to do is identify what went wrong and then when it happens in real life we know what to fix," he said. "Did it go perfect, no, but what disaster does go perfect? That's why it has the name 'disaster.'"

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.