-Nolan Hiott, WRGA-
Georgia Highlands College hosted their 6th annual simulated disaster response on Wednesday, April 15th.
The event is intense, and includes students in makeup depicting injuries from minor to severe. The maked-up students labelled “victims” were shown to the gymnasium, where they were to lie down and act out their injuries as if the disaster had recently happened. The disaster this year was a gas pipe explosion, and the gymnasium was covered in a dense fog created by fog machines. Then, nursing students entered the gym with the goal of identifying and assessing the injuries of the victim players while navigating the fogs and loud noises made by the students labelled “victims”.
This event was created by Shea Walker, the dedicated director of the Nursing Program at GHC. The event was also possible through all of the community sponsors. Such as Advent Health Redmond, Atrium Health Floyd, The Augusta Burn Center, The Georgia Region C Coalition’s Disaster Response Team, The Department of Health, Rome Fire, EMS, NRGHC, Floyd Emergency Management, Chatooga High School, and Barry College.
The event’s goal is to simulate disaster relief so nursing students can know what boots-on-the-ground response teams encounter while at the scene, which serves to inform students and help them in those situations whether they are in the response team or nearby hospitals once they enter the healthcare workforce.
