Charles Sturt University students participated in a multi-casualty road incident scenario

The scenario involved over 40 paramedicine students, and called for them to apply their clinical judgement and decision making skills to a real-world situation, in order to prepare them for their transition into the workforce.

The event was organised and run by lecturer in the Charles Sturt School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences Ms Georgina Pickering.

Ms Pickering said that despite the scene looking quite chaotic, it was incredibly important for students to develop their knowledge in a real-life scenario as preparation for their imminent graduation.

"The subject that they're studying currently is called transition to paramedic practice. They're all graduating soon and hoping to get out in the work force and potentially, they will be going to scenarios like this," she said.

"It's really important to get them to think about how to manage a scene like this in real-life because in reality these things generally do seem this chaotic."

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The scenario involved students acting as paramedics, police officers, team leaders and trauma victims with patients ranging from pregnant mothers, to babies and children with injuries.

These injuries included head wounds, amnesia, nausea and amputations as well as several fatalities.

"It's a different way of thinking for students because some of them have leadership roles within this pretend ambulance scenario, and this is something that they're not really used to," she said.

During the simulation, paramedic students had the opportunity to utilise some of the many resources that the CSU campus has to offer, including a prop car which has the capacity for door and roof removal.

"The trauma car is something we use in scenarios at times during the course. We have a simulator ambulance with a lot of equipment on there, and we have borrowed a lot of other items from the ambulance fleet and from the university," Ms Pickering said.

Paramedic student Thomas Parker, who participated in the multi-casualty scenario commended the university on their ability to provide students with such practical experiences in a realistic learning environment.

"The degree is brilliant, it's not like other degrees where you're just stuck inside taking notes and doing theory," he said.

"What's happened in the simulation today is that a bus has collided with another car and in total there's in excess of 20 patients that require us to try and extricate them and get the most important medical attention that's required, and get patients away from the scene as quickly as possible."

Mr Parker complimented the efforts of his peers, and pinpointed some areas in which more relevant training could be beneficial.

"It's certainly indicated some areas that we need to improve on but I think in general, everyone is doing a really good job and everyone is working really well as a team," he said.

"It's definitely highlighted areas like resource management that we haven't really thought about so far in the degree and it's good to get an insight into those areas."

For Mr Parker, the scenario was incredibly exciting, and helped to reassure him that becoming a paramedic is a major career goal, regardless of how difficult it may be at times.

"My old man is a paramedic and I guess growing up and I've always aspired to be like him," he said.

"I mean there's certainly a lot of stress that's associated with it, but I think it's exciting to get to do things in this capacity."

Mr Parker said that his father being a paramedic was something that he always admired.

"His stories, his ethic and his ability to talk to people or be there for people in their times of need; I've always looked up to that and that's something that I really want to do," he said.

"I've always been a people person and if that means that I can go out into the world and not know where I'm going each day, and be a beacon of hope for people in their worst times and their best times, that really excites me."

Though Mr Parker is very much looking forward to entering the workforce, he is also still slightly sombre that his university experience is coming to an end.

"I've really enjoyed my time in the degree, and it's kind of disappointing that we're coming to the end of it now but I'm very excited to actually get out there now and crack on in the job," he said.

The scenario took place in the car park of the Clinic Simulation Centre building at the Bathurst CSU campus.

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