"It's imperative:" Mass casualty training held at Medical College of Wisconsin

Mass casualty training held at Medical College of Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE -- A catastrophic incident causes mass casualties. Unfortunately it's a scene we're starting to see more often. And, every moment counts when it comes to getting victims the help they need.

On Tuesday, June 21st a mass casualty training exercise was held on the Medical College of Wisconsin campus.

"We want to expose them to what they really might see," said Lindsey Anthony, Chief of Hospital and Emergency Management at Augusta University.

The mock drill involved an explosion in a public area resulting in a number of casualties.

"We help train first responders and first receivers, to prepare for and respond to any disaster that may occur," said Anthony.

Nurses, paramedics, physicians and hospital-based emergency managers are learning how to evaluate, triage and provide care with uniformity.

"It's imperative to have a coordinated community effort," said Dr. Jason Liu , Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The victims in the mock drill had various traumatic injuries.

"Soft tissue injuries, orthopedic injuries, even stuff that affects cardiac pulmonary major system trauma," said Dr. Jason Liu.

Each of these patients has a tag placed on them. The emergency responders assess the patients priority by their injury before they do any stabilizing care.

"It may be that that injury to your head really isn't that significant it's really not that troublesome. In the same respect, there are going to be people who don't seem to have major injuries, some bruising, but that have major internal damage and needs to be categorized immediately," said Anthony.

The drill provided the tools to efficiently coordinate, communicate and provide life-saving treatment on a large scale.

This exercise was part of a two-day course, which included classroom activities in small group discussions and scenarios as well.