Monday, March 24, 2014

Disaster Day

Last week, I participated in a simulation called Disaster Day. My friend Andrea, who is a nurse at one of the local hospitals, told me about the annual event, which is put on by the university's Health Science Center. Disaster Day is meant to simulate a natural disaster in order to train the soon-to-be nurses and doctors how to deal with large-scale emergencies. Andrea said she had volunteered in previous years, and roped me into doing it with her.

The disaster that was to occur — simulated only! not real! — was that a hurricane had hit the coast, and while people were evacuating inland, some tornadoes touched ground and one flattened a local high school. The story I was supposed to be portraying was one of someone who was not able to evacuate before the hurricane hit, so I ended up with Water Contamination after wading through waist-deep murky water to get to the evacuation vehicle. My case also required me to go get my face done up like I was pale and sickly, with dark bags under my eyes, and holy crap they did a good job. I looked like death.

Though they told me I was not supposed to die. 

Andrea's case was that she had been in a car crash when the tornadoes hit. The only thing she was supposed to do was die as soon as the doctors brought her into the makeshift clinic (so they'd simulate CPR/intubation to try to save her). You can't see it, but the whole side of her body was done up in purple bruising, like internal bleeding. She thinks she looks like a clown in this picture, but her chin was also "bashed up" too.

After our makeup was done, we sat around for a little bit while we waited for the simulation to be re-set. (I only volunteered in the afternoon, and they did the simulation both morning and afternoon.) Some of these people had REALLY good makeup. There were major head injuries and prosthetic lumps, people with gashed up, bloody legs. It was all very intense-looking.

Right before we were supposed to start the simulation, I headed to my "pod" — which was really just rows and rows of cots in a church gymnasium — and picked a cot to sit and read on while we waited some more. Once they were ready to start, the books and phones went away, people laid on their cots, and pandemonium ensued. People came in screaming, hauling bleeding friends in over their backs. People scrambled to find their loved ones. There was an old woman with a carpetbag purse that was wandering around like she was lost and didn't know where she was, and a girl who was either in shock or having a severe panic attack, acting totally crazy and refusing help from the doctors.

And I? I pretended to throw up a lot while nurses took my blood pressure and taped IV lines to my hands. (Because SIMULATION = NO NEEDLES hooray!)

It only went on for about an hour and a half. I got discharged from my pod about halfway through, so I went back to the volunteer desk to see if they needed me to do it again, and went and played it all through again in a different unit, with different doctors and nurses. The doctor-to-be in the second unit was awesome and asked me all the right questions that the doctor-to-be in the first unit didn't think to. Which was interesting, because I wasn't supposed to tell the doctors that I "swallowed a lot of filthy water" unless they asked about my evacuation experience; if they only asked for my symptoms, I was only supposed to say that I was, um, "spewing from both ends."

It was a good experience, more fun than I was expecting. And it was nice to see people in the medical field who were excited about the work they were doing, and were enthusiastic and helpful.

Would you participate in a disaster simulation? 

12 comments

  1. Oh wow, that is awesome! I've heard of these drills before and, of course, there's that "Shattered Dreams" car accident re-enactment a local school does every year. Was it kind of light-hearted and did people laugh? I think I'd have a hard time acting sick and would probably laugh. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, we did the Shattered Dreams thing in high school too, but I didn't participate in that one. It wasn't meant to be light-hearted, but some people were so over-the-top dramatic that I wanted to see what was going on!

      Delete
  2. How interesting! And what a lot of detail they went into with creating fake wounds and telling you how to respond and what answers to give to what questions--I've never heard of a simulation like this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! I'm so impressed at the level of detail they spent in creating this stimulation! Good for you in getting involved. I'm way to squeamish to be anywhere near something like this haha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I made VERRRRY sure there weren't going to be any real medications or blood or IVs or anything!

      Delete
  4. My old job (and alma mater, although since they were the same place I'm not sure I can count it as two places haha) used to do this for California ShakeOut, which is preparedness for an earthquake and the variety of calamities that can happen as a result of one (flooding, collapses, electrical fires, etc). Those and wildfires are really the only disasters we see in our part of the country... As if that makes them sound any less disastrous! I've never participated in one though, and so I have no idea if they do makeup or anything like yours! Seems interesting and really informative!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely not less disastrous! It's cool that different parts of the country simulate different disasters depending on what's likely to affect the different areas!

      Delete
  5. Ooooh man, why have I never heard of this? It sounds like so much fun! I'd absolutely do it for the creepy makeup alone. Yours looked so good/scary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Thanks. :) I'm always amazed when people tell me they don't think there's anything to do in this town, because I'm always finding out about random stuff like this!

      Delete
  6. Whoa! This is absolutely rad. I've never heard of anything like it, but it sounds incredible. That's great that the medical students were pumped up about it, too. You look horrible and lovely (I mean that in the best way possible) :D <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. disaster simulation? gah, this is such a cool post - it's kinda like you were cast in a movie but all in the name of medicine - looks like fun!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is crazy! I've never heard of anything like this before. Seems like it would be a good idea, though. You know, just in case.

    ReplyDelete