SIUE’s School of Nursing Collaborates with Local Emergency Responders for Mass Casualty Exercise 

EDWARDSVILLE – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s nursing students participated in a mass casualty exercise in coordination with Air Evac Lifeteam 156, Edwardsville Fire and EMS. This exercise is another example of how the School of Nursing provides hands-on learning and practice in a variety of environments and scenarios.

“Educating nurses in community health includes health promotion and disease prevention; however, it also includes ensuring preparedness for unexpected, devastating events such as mass casualties,” said Myjal Garner, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, instructor of family health and community health nursing. “A multidisciplinary approach promotes collaboration between emergency responders and future nurses, allowing for a more comprehensive learning experience to augment didactic learning.”

The exercise simulated a scenario of multiple people injured from an explosion. In collaboration with the emergency response professionals, the nursing students triaged the injured using sort, assess, life-saving interventions and transport (SALT) and simple triage and rapid treatment (START) mass casualty triage systems.

“The mass casualty event was one of the best experiences I encountered throughout nursing school,” said Jayla Newton, senior nursing student. “It was interesting to see the medical field in so many different aspects rather than just the hospital. I truly learned so much from this experience and will use this knowledge in the future as a nurse.”

SIUE thanks our local partners for their dedication to our community and for their partnership to ensure a well-prepared nursing workforce.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high-quality education that powerfully transforms the lives of all individuals who seek something greater. A premier metropolitan university, SIUE is creating social and economic mobility for individuals while also powering the workforce of the future. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 12,500.

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