LUBBOCK, Texas — On March 22, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) hosted a Disaster Day Simulation at the American Windmill Museum, creating a scene that mimicked the aftermath of a tornado. Texas Tech University students, Red Cross personnel and South Plains University paramedics participated in the event.
The purpose of the event was to bring students together to practice responding to disasters as a team.
To make it more realistic, Texas Tech University theater faculty and students, as well as volunteers, created fake blood and fake injuries to pretend to be in pain. After a devastating fake tornado, screams echoed throughout the room as actors and actresses cried out for the people they pretended to love.
“They're screaming and crying. They're asking where their loved ones are,” said TTUHSC nursing student Jensen Mickey. “I never thought it would be this real.”
Mickey said he was “trapped” in the chaos, reading vital signs and preparing for what patients needed next. She said the whole scene felt real, even though she knew it was a simulation.
TTUHSC conducted this simulation in the hope that students would be able to find their mission and learn to work together during disasters.
Kyle Johnson, executive director of the TTUHSC simulation program, said, “We are all united in the loss of mass casualties.” “When other team members are aware of what they can do for patients in crisis, we can work together to provide better care.”
Mickey said the busy room made her even more passionate about her future in nursing.
“I decided I wanted to do ER nursing,” Mickey said. “It's like an adrenaline rush and I feel like I'm needed here the most. It sounds more like my calling.”
Johnson said the simulation program team has already begun planning what next year's simulation will look like.
