17 UMKC BSN students and one PhD nursing student attended an immersive disaster exercise called the Missouri Hope program that prepares participants for emergency disaster situations.
In this three-day experience students are trained to treat and transport patients to local hospitals, perform search and rescues, complete a high ropes course, and assist with mass casualty incidents (MCI).
Missouri Hope was created by the Consortium for Humanitarian Education when a group of University and Military personnel came together and decided they needed better training for disaster situations.
They host a total of three events a year and invite only three universities to participate, UMKC being one of them. Each disaster simulation event they host costs roughly $3.5 million to put on.
Dr. Sharon White-Lewis who teaches disaster preparedness for healthcare students has been on the board of Missouri Hope for 12 years.
“It has grown immensely in resources,” White-Lewis said. Acting as safety officer, she makes sure all participants involved, students and acting victims, were taken care of and safe throughout the exercise.
White-Lewis believes this exercise is useful for students because it tests them on their education and how they can apply their knowledge to a disaster situation.
Students were able to learn things like leadership, teamwork and negotiation as well as gain hands-on experience through nighttime search and rescue and over water rescue drownings.
Twenty-two year old Zowie Hayes felt her nursing skills were improved through the exercise.
“We practiced emergency treatment such as placing tourniquets, IV’s, oxygen, fluids, C-collars, and managing open chest wounds,” Hayes said.
BSN student, Callie Grove, believes this type of preparation is crucial.
“While it’s important for medical professionals to have a strong knowledge base on how to triage and provide care to the most people, the response to a disaster requires many hands,” Grove said. “Even if each individual simply has basic knowledge, the nation’s capacity to respond to a disaster will improve significantly.”
Senior nursing student Kelsey Davis found the opportunity to be rewarding.
The skills learned in this program would be very beneficial for other nursing students,” Davis said. “I learned so much in just a few days.”
