Emergency Response and Nursing Students Enhance Skills in Real-world Simulation Training at Nicolet College

“911. What’s your emergency?”

Everyday those few words set off a chain of events that bring together professionals from a number of professions who then have to work together efficiently and effectively in order to have a successful outcome for all involved.

All too often, however, those new to any given emergency response or health care profession don’t have much opportunity to work with others outside of their profession and understand their duties and roles when seconds and lives matter.

That changed recently at Nicolet College when dozens of students and staff took part in an educational exercise dubbed the Burn Simulation.

“What many people don’t realize is the high level of communication and coordination that takes place between all of the players who respond to a high-risk emergency,” said Dilya St. Louis, Nicolet College Nursing instructor and simulation exercise coordinator.

"After these students graduate and start their careers, it will be common for them to work with others from different professions. We wanted to give them that experience, to interact with each other and for all of them to practice the specialized skills they’ve learned in Nicolet labs and classrooms.”

The multi-faceted exercise started with a 911 call to report two individuals trapped inside a burning building, prompting a response by Firefighters, who then entered the college’s smoke-filled Burning Building to extract the victims.

Once outside, Paramedic and Emergency Medical Services students assessed the extent of patients’ injuries, initiated care, and transported the patients by ambulance to the Nicolet Emergency Room, otherwise known as the college’s Nursing Lab.

While enroute students in the ambulance had to radio ahead to pass on as much medical information as possible to the waiting Nursing students who then prepped the ER for the patients.

Fourth-semester Nursing student Cody Volm said the experience was invaluable, giving him and his classmates the opportunity to practice the many skills they’ve learned leading up to this day.

"Being part of a real-world training scenario like this is fantastic,” Volm said. “This may be the only time we get to do something like this before entering the workforce. It’s a fantastic collaborative experience that really gives you added insight into how all the pieces fit together.”

The last phase of the scenario entailed professional staff from Aspirus MedEvac arriving in the Nicolet Emergency Room to transport the critically injured patients to a burn unit. This gave the Nursing students the opportunity to practice their communication skills, relaying the treatment they provided and the medical status of each patient.

Nicolet Nursing Instructor Dilya St. Louis noted after the scenario was finished that she was quite pleased with how the training played out.

“We refer to scenarios like this as low-frequency and high-risk. We don’t see them very often in a rural area like Northern Wisconsin,” St. Louis explained. “But they do happen, and we feel it’s important to train for situations like this. Peoples’ lives are literally on the line. It’s high stress, and I’m just glad we could provide the training everybody can draw on when the need arises.”

Nicolet Associate Dean of Public Safety Jason Goeldner also participated in the simulation, directing the firefighters who launched the scenario.

"Firefighters may not always have a good sense of what paramedics do and what nurses do,” Goeldner explained. “This was an excellent opportunity to expand the knowledge base of all involved and to stress how they have to communicate with each other and work together efficiently and effectively to have a successful outcome.”