April 24th, 2024 – 5:45 PM

Ethan Garrett – WRGA Digital News Editor & Video Reporter –

Georgia Highlands College held a disaster simulation exercise on Wednesday afternoon, providing hands-on training for students in their nursing program.

The event took place in the parking lot of the Lakeview Building and was organized in collaboration with Floyd County Emergency Management, the Department of Public Health, and the Rome-Floyd Fire Department.

Local community volunteers joined forces to create a realistic hazardous material accident scenario, challenging nursing students to assist victims. Volunteers applied makeup to actors who played the part of severely injured or contaminated victims.

The exercise featured a decontamination station and a triage station. An Erlanger Life-force helicopter landed to participate in the disaster training, to demonstrate emergency medical airlifts.

The event is aimed to help prepare nursing students for real-world emergencies, allowing them to practice under pressure.

In this video report, we spoke with GHC Assistant Director of Nursing, Shea Walker, and Atrium Health Floyd School of Health Science Dean, Lisa Jellum about the importance of disaster training for nursing students.