University of Tasmania medical students put their disaster response skills into practice during simulated mass-casualty training exercises in the North-West.
The Rural Clinical School (RCS) is facilitating its annual Emergency Skills course on the edge of the Tarkine (Thursday, 15 March) which immerses future doctors in realistic remote medical scenarios.
Students will be challenged to assess, diagnose and treat a number of coordinated pretend patients with varying symptoms in environments where limited resources are available.
They will also gain experience working with the emergency services to facilitate mock patient retrievals in areas that are difficult to access.
Dr Lizzi Shires, Director of the RCS, said students would be guided by emergency service representatives, health professionals and University staff.
“The medical students will be challenged to exercise time-critical judgement and respond to casualty events which they have no prior knowledge of,” Dr Shires said.
“Each scenario has been designed to be as realistic as possible. This helps prepare students for experiencing and responding to the real thing when they are doctors.
“They will have to assess the environment and examine deteriorating and critically unwell patients who require immediate care. In some cases, there will be casualties who are unconscious and in need of CPR.
“The course is also an opportunity to get students thinking about achieving the best patient outcomes in partnership with the emergency services and local health partners when dealing with emergencies in rural or remote settings.”
Coordinator of the wilderness program component Dr Nick Towle said Emergency Skills would push the students to put their clinical knowledge into practice.
"There will be five authentic wilderness emergencies taking place at the Julius River Forest Reserve, followed by a mass casualty incident near Smithton," Dr Towle said.
“The scenarios will throw up new challenges where the students are expected to respond efficiently, effectively and in some cases, improvise in locations where resources aren’t readily available or accessible.
“While they might be good at responding in a typical clinical setting, it is important that students develop their skills in unfamiliar environments such as the remote wilderness.”
