Gulf Shores Campus Hosts First Mass Casualty Training Event

A simulated airplane crash brought first responders, emergency medical professionals and aspiring students to Coastal Alabama Community College’s Gulf Shores campus for a Mass Casualty Event on November 10. It was the first for the south Baldwin County location, and the latest MCE training simulation the college has staged at one of its campuses in partnership with community stakeholders. The Gulf Shores “crash” included participation from the Gulf Shores Fire Department, Baldwin County EMA, Baldwin County E-911, Medstar EMS, Baldwin Health and the Baldwin Health Freestanding Emergency Department.

“This is a disaster I have wanted to do for a long time, considering this campus is across the street from the airport,” said Dr. Carman Godfrey, director of the Coastal Alabama Community College Simulation Program. “We try to rotate through some sort of active shooter or violent offender emergency, or a weather emergency and something with a fire or explosive element.

“Today’s disaster hits on that fire or explosive element, so we still get to check that box.”

Monday’s training included students and faculty from the college’s Nursing, Simulation, Emergency Medical Services, Medical Laboratory Technology, Medical Assistant Technology and Dental Assisting departments.

“This is the best amalgamation of what we do to serve the community,” Godfrey said. “It provides an educational opportunity for our health science students, and then also provides valuable training for our community resources.

“Trainings such as these provided excellent opportunities for all our campus locations and their surrounding communities.”

On Monday, once the call came across the radio, all of the MCE participants sprang into action, with students posing as victims being addressed by emergency personnel, while firefighters sprayed the nearby woods where the “plane” had gone down. Once triaged at a nearby staging area flanked by fire trucks and ambulances, the patients were transported by first responders to a hospital set up behind the Culinary Arts building, where healthcare students provided treatment. At its conclusion, everyone gathered to share input and reaction from the event.

“It's really good that we have the opportunity to participate in things like this,” said Tom Tyler, director of the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency. “As a community stakeholder, we see with our own eyes how our emergency medical students are being trained and how they're being evaluated. Which makes us better partners in the entire process.”

Baldwin County EMA was primarily involved in the MCE’s planning and logistics, and provided the hospital tent and other equipment, with cots provided by Medstar EMS.

The multi-agency partnership on display during the MCE directly addresses the college’s mission of being a community asset everywhere a campus is located, according to Gulf Shores Campus Director Ed Douglas.

“It is exciting that we can have both the college and the city be involved in this, located as we are right across from the airport,” Douglas said. “This scenario represents a very real possibility, so it's great that we're doing this and can help the city and our students prepare for the future.”