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Nursing, Homeland Security Students Join Forces for Interprofessional Disaster Simulation
The first sirens blared just after 11 a.m. Then came the screams for help.
The area just outside the DeSales University Center transformed into mass casualty carnage—complete with moulage including fake blood, soot, and open wounds—as nearly 160 nursing and homeland security students put their training to the test during an interprofessional plane crash simulation.
Homeland security students, who participated in the simulation for the first time, secured the area to investigate the crash. Nursing students played dual roles as survivors and first responders triaging the injured.
“Triage to us means getting the right patient to the right amount of care in the most appropriate amount of time. People have different levels of injuries, and it’s not always as simple as people think. Just because you’re in pain and screaming doesn’t necessarily mean that you need treatment first.”
Learning sessions, including stop the bleed training and PTSD for responders, were also held after the simulation. Both Kieffer and William McCormac ’25, a homeland security major, call the joint event extremely beneficial.
“This helps us to have real-life experience,” says McCormac. “It gives us a safe space to be able to practice what we would like to do while also giving our nursing majors the opportunity to come out and do what they do best.”
Students from the TV/film department were also on hand to film the event. Women for DeSales, the division of nursing, and the homeland security program all provided funding for the simulation.
