Local students learn how to better save lives at mock incident drill

JACKSON, Tenn. — An Air Evac helicopter lands on the scene of an accident where several victims lie in the street in critical condition.

“This is what they need to be good EMT’s and paramedics on the scene. There’s only so much we can do in the classroom, so we come out here and we make it as real as possible,” said Bryan Kessler, EMT director at Jackson State Community College.

But the bruised and bleeding victims were just students and local Boy Scouts playing a part in a mock mass casualty incident drill.

“So it was a T-bone accident with a lot of pedestrians involved,” Kessler said, “almost over 20 patients with many of them critical.”

Around 20 EMT and paramedic students from Jackson State Community College had the opportunity to take on roles such as paramedic, public information officer, and incident commander.

Kessler said one of the most important lesson he hopes students learn is the ability to determine each victim’s degree of medical attention urgency. Students said, they learned that and more.

“I need to stay back, and how chaotic a scene really could be,” said Brett Gibson, paramedic student at JSCC.

Even victims say they took a lesson from the experience.

“We were on top of the car, so we got treated last, so you just have to pray and be patient,” said Madison May, student at JCM Early College.

Local agencies such as the Madison County Fire Department and ambulance personal were also on scene assisting, showing how important it is to work as a team.

“I think with some of the things we took a little too long that needed to be improved on,” Gibson said. “Other than that, I think everybody did a really great job.”

Students we spoke with say they hope to have more mock incident drills like this in the future, involving not only students, but the entire community.