KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- Emergency personnel from around the Heartland, along with Med students attending A.T. Still University prepare for the worst, during Saturday's Disaster Awareness Response Training event. (DART Simulation) The simulation was sponsored by A.T. Still University, the State Emergency Management Agency and several other community partners.
KTVO cameras were there to witness one of the simulations. It involved emergency responders attending to a mass casualty school bus rollover accident. Firefighters cut open the bus, while the play victims waited for help. Makeup artists added to the simulation by dressing up the victims to resemble their variety of injuries.
"The extrication as far as the fire department goes is relatively easy. As you can see behind me, we have a school bus. We cut the side of it out to give us a larger access to the patients inside," said Kirksville Fire Captain James Snyder.
After the fire department cut open the bus, the Med students triaged or sorted the victims, according to their injury severity. One of the participants who played the fatality role, said she thought it was a great experience.
"It was a great experience. I learned a lot...even though I was dead and didn't do very much," said Joan Choi, a first year med student at A. T. Still University. "They made it seem really realistic. Everyone was in their parts. It's good to know that these situations can happen and to prepare for it.
Overall, the DART simulation included four disaster drills. These drills involved 200 simulation volunteer victims, 10 firefighters, seven EMTs, five medical professionals and 100 participants from A.T. Still University's disaster-preparedness training program. Also used in the event were one ambulance, two fire trucks and three helicopters.
"We've had four different types of scenarios. We had two this morning, two this afternoon. So it's very good hands on training that all EMS and everyday personnel practice in," said Adair County Sheriff Bob Hardwick, who is also the county's Emergency Management Director.
This is the first time the med students teamed up with the state to participate in a class focused on Disaster Life Support.
"Preparedness is really is the way to go in disasters. The more prepared you are, the better functioning your emergency response system will be," said Christophe Miller, one of the organizers of the DART simulation.
The DART simulation is one of three official regional training sites in Missouri for the National Disaster Life Support Foundation.
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