Paramedic students from Plymouth University have been put through their paces with a mock major incident training exercise at Burrator reservoir.
Thanks to collaboration with University partner Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (DSRTP) and medical training and simulation company Laerdal Medical, 44 first-year students attended a mock accident at the moorland location yesterday.
They undertook the exercise on five varying levels of terrain, dealing with injuries of ‘patients’ based on theory learned in lectures.
As well as applying clinical knowledge to injuries such as fractures, blood loss and open wounds, the students had to practise accessing patients in hard-to-reach positions, developing their teamwork working alongside members of the DSRTP team.
The exercise is designed to further prepare students for their front line ambulance placements within the local trust, as Lecturer Kirstie Brown explains:
“It is important to equip students with skills of this magnitude early on as they could be exposed to a real major incident with real patients at any time. Evidence shows that major incident simulation can help with their resilience to this event. Some of our students were part of the ambulance crews called to deal with the crash at Plymouth Train Station last month, so their training would have proved invaluable in helping them deal with a real-life emergency.”
