Simulated explosion helps ignite students' interest in health care field
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Amid smoke, flashing lights and wailing sirens, emergency services personnel sprang into action and 26 high school students stepped onto health care's front line during a mock disaster in Brownsville on Wednesday, July 10.
The simulated chemical plant explosion at the Brownsville Community Centre was staged for MedQUEST – an annual week-long program providing realistic, hands-on experiences in various health care disciplines to high school students interested in the field.
Established in Oxford County six years ago, MedQUEST began as a partnership between the Schulich School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, Ingersoll's Alexandra Hospital and Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital. This year, the partnership expanded to include the City of St. Thomas and Elgin County.
Wednesday's disaster began with the sound of a large explosion followed by a 9-1-1 call played over loud speakers outside the community centre.
Several actors portraying victims injured in the explosion staggered through simulated smoke and collapsed on the lawn outside the building, pretending to suffer from chemical burns and other effects of the blast. Other victims were trapped in a car caught in the debris path of the explosion.
OPP officers, Oxford County EMS paramedics and firefighters from Ingersoll, Brownsville and Tillsonburg arrived on scene and conducted a variety of operations, including fire suppression, auto extrication, patient triage, site command and scene control.
Following triage and initial treatment, patients were transported to a field hospital where doctors and nurses took over their care.
Due to the nature of the incident, hazardous material decontamination was also covered in the demonstration.
A representative from the Canadian Red Cross explained what the agency's role would be in a situation where residents and plant employees would be evacuated and sent to a staging area.
Step-by-step, every action was explained by narrators over the sound system.
The point of the exercise was to give MedQUEST participants a first-hand look at emergency services as front line health care workers, said Lisa Gardner, director of patient services and chief nursing officer at Alexandra Hospital.
“It (also) shows them what could go wrong and the types of things these professionals have to deal with,” she said.
Besides the mock disaster, MedQUEST students spent the week learning various skills, including putting casts on fractures, suturing, intubation, administering needles and reading x-rays. They also learned about the importance of immunizations and studied anatomy and physiology.
During the week, students are placed with doctors and nurses at Alexandra Hospital and Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital and local veterinarians to get first-hand insight into those careers.
“Our hope at the end of this is that we recruit them to become health care professionals,” Gardner said, explaining that MedQUEST has been successful in achieving that goal. “I've hired many health care professionals who have attended the program.”
Three first year students at the Schulich School of Medicine who have been getting their own hands-on experiences at local hospitals and practices over the past month helped run MedQUEST.
“Things have gone really well this week,” said Ethan Cassidy of Ingersoll who is one of the three medical school students. “It will give (participants) an idea if they want to pursue any the allied health professions.”
MedQUEST is also beneficial for the medical school students, Cassidy said.
“We've just been learning all this stuff ourselves, so it's neat to be passing it on at such an early stage,” he said. “You know that you've learned something when you can teach it to someone else.”
St. Thomas resident Emily Houton, who will be in Grade 12 in the fall, said she signed up for MedQUEST because she is considering a career in health care.
“I love science and math and working with people, I think it's a good fit,” she said.
MedQUEST has only strengthened her desire to work in the field, possibly as a pediatrician.
“It's been great, we've been learning a lot.”