OWASSO, Okla. — Tulsa Tech, Ascension St. John and other agencies in Owasso partnered up for a simulation training Tuesday. It’s training that health care providers say isn’t a matter of if it will be used, but when.
First responders and Ascension St. John healthcare workers went through "mass casualty incident" training. Tulsa Tech nursing students acted as the victims, while hospital staff had to learn how to deal with such a large number of patients.
“Unfortunately, we are living in a time where these situations are occurring all too commonly,” says Dr. Leslie Clark, Tulsa Tech Owasso Campus Director.
It was their first training of its kind.
“Our immediate response after the St. Francis incident was we did some internal drills, in which we tested our own capabilities to handle a similar event,” says Owasso Ascension St. John President Wyatt Hockmeyer.
First responders showed up to Tulsa Tech’s Owasso campus and evaluated several mock gunshot "victims." They then transported them to Ascension St. John, where staff began their training on how to handle multiple shooting victims.
During the training, the hospital did still receive real patients. Hockmeyer says that also helped during the training.
"One of the challenges was we have real patients in the hospital. We didn’t shut down the hospital for the purpose of the drill. And that’s very similar to what it would be like if there was a community event."
The Tulsa Tech students say although the training was for hospital staff and first responders, they learned from it too.
"It already makes me start thinking, OK what would my role be?" says Tulsa Tech nursing student, Gabriel Griffin. "How can I help in those hospital systems? Or where do I need to get out of the way?"
Tulsa Tech and St. John say that this training took weeks to plan.
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