小蝌蚪APP

Crisis Scenario: A Calm Amid the Storm

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Posted on November 20, 2015

Alice Jackson

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鈥淚鈥檝e got 10 red, two blacks and four greens,鈥� a male voice blared through Hannah Beals鈥� radio. 鈥淭hose are the first. There鈥檚 a lot more.鈥�

Beals, a senior emergency medical services student at the 小蝌蚪APP, was incident commander for a disaster scenario underway Nov. 19 at Battleship Memorial Park on the Causeway. The numbers and colors identify people and their immediate needs 鈥� burned, dead, severely injured 鈥� following the mock explosion and fire aboard a disabled cruise ship making an emergency stop at Mobile. 

Beals responded calmly to the assessment team aboard ship as she turned to check on fellow USA students spread around her, ready to receive the injured and move them to nearby hospitals by helicopter or ambulance. 鈥淲e鈥檙e ready. Bring鈥檈m out when you can move鈥檈m.鈥�

The training scenario brought together faculty and students from the University鈥檚 emergency medical services program, nursing, the physician assistant program and the College of Medicine. Also participating were emergency professionals from around the area, including the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, which ran a zip line for removing some injured from the ship to shore. In the drill, the cruise ship was the USS Alabama Battleship. 

Beals, who will graduate from USA in 2016, is no stranger to real-life emergencies because she already works full-time for an ambulance service. Like many of her fellow students, Beals admits she enjoys the adrenaline of emergency medical care.

鈥淚鈥檇 heard really good things about the USA program, so I took one class, and I fell in love with it,鈥� she said, nodding to the action around her. 鈥淚 love this. I enjoy the hands-on work to help people who need it, and I like the challenge to help them as quickly as possible.鈥�

All around her, patients were being shuttled into treatment areas. Several of them wore make-up and false burn patches that look like the real thing. Treatment Officer Ashlye Smolha, a fellow student from d鈥橧berville, Miss., stopped to confer with Beals, then confidently moved on to another task.

鈥淭he drill is going well,鈥� declared Scotty McArthur, clinical instructor of emergency medical services. He and fellow instructors observed the drill from a distance, letting the students learn from their mistakes, which is the drill鈥檚 purpose. 鈥淓verything is moving as smoothly as it possibly can. I鈥檓 very pleased with our students.鈥�

鈥淭his drill lets the students think outside-the-box and be able to work with other disciplines in a chaotic situation,鈥� McArthur said.

An hour into the drill, the last patient, a dummy, slid down the zipline, making it without mishap.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 it,鈥� Beals declared. 鈥淕ood job! Everyone did what they were supposed to do.鈥�

This was Beals鈥� second disaster drill, but it was her first time to be commander.

鈥淚 was pretty happy with how things went,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e got all the patients seen within the Golden Hour, which is the standard for emergency care in a disaster, so we met our goal.鈥�

Goals are important to Beals, and she responded quickly when asked about her life goals.

鈥淩ight now, I am focusing only on emergency medical services, but that could change at some point,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ho knows? I could decide down the road that I want to be a doctor. If I do,  USA would be my choice for that too.鈥�

For more information about USA鈥檚 emergency medical services program, visit /colleges/alliedhealth/ems/index.html.

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