Three Rivers College EMT and paramedic students filled the Bess Activity Center train for an event which hopefully, they will never be faced with once entering their careers.
Along with assist from Air Evac Lifeteam, Butler County EMS and ambulance districts from Clearwater, Ripley County and Stoddard County, the group was read a scenario as part of Three Rivers College's mass causality training.
A party to kick off the Christmas season is being conducted by the Chamber of Commerce in a full event hall that holds several hundred people, said the paper that was read to students. Suddenly, there is a deafening explosion and a fireball engulfs the rear of the building. The lights go out as ceiling tiles and other debris begins to fall. People are screaming and trying to get out as they run over one another, blocking the exits.
Enter the 22 TRC EMT and paramedic students.
"Once the scenario is read they go into action and actually participate in the pre-hospital event that we have set up for them," said TRC EMS Coordinator Tami Cunningham.
Previously discussing the lecture portion of what to do during a mass causality, Cunningham said students went directly into "action mode" and put everything they have learned into the practice portion of the lesson.
During the mass causality training, students are not told what the scenario will be ahead of time and could range from an active shooter to a multiple vehicle car accident.
Held twice a year, Cunningham said the scenario is changed each semester.
"Any type of medical or traumatic emergency, we train for that," she said.
The event is set up very realistic and includes participants donning life-like injuries and causalities created with makeup.
Patients suffered burns, impelled objects and, head and crush injuries, Cunningham said.
To keep the training as realistic as possible, vitals were even reported as if the participants had actually suffered their mimicked injuries.
"The event went very well," she said. "We had several students in different roles such as leadership and transport roles."
Five ambulances and two Air Evac helicopters on scene transported patients to the hospital along with a student and duty crew from agencies in attendance. The transport as well as on-scene care gave students the opportunity to train with professionals in the field they are working toward.
When the students returned from transporting patients to the hospital, Cunningham reported they were excited and had learned a lot through the opportunity to practice what they were learning in the classroom.
"We prepare the students for anything," Cunningham said. "We want to prepare them for when they are out of the program and go to work."