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Oregon Tech’s Respiratory Care Program conducted a yearly training exercise where students simulated responding to a code blue emergency in a rural hospital with limited supplies and access to care. The exercise involved an ambulance and helicopter drill where students provided initial care to the patient, ambulance transport, and helicopter landing and liftoff. The patient arrived at a rural clinic with chest pain and shortness of breath before entering a state of cardiac arrhythmia and becoming unresponsive. The students attempted to resuscitate the patient with chest compressions, assisted breathing, and an AED shock. Finally, after over 10 minutes of battling, the students succeeded in returning spontaneous circulation to the patient.
In light of the recent news by a recent article on Herald and News, future respiratory therapists at Oregon Tech had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in emergency medical transport. This exercise was part of the yearly training exercise for students in the Respiratory Care Program.
The exercise involved a simulated emergency scenario where a patient required resuscitation due to a respiratory or cardiac arrest. The scenario was set up in a rural hospital with limited supplies and access to care, making it a challenging situation for the students to handle.
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Eleven juniors from the Respiratory Care Program, along with Klamath County Fire District 1 and AirLink Critical Care Transport, participated in the exercise. The students were able to experience the initial care of the “patient,” ambulance transport, and helicopter landing and liftoff.
During the exercise, the “patient” arrived at a rural clinic with complaints of chest pain and shortness of breath before entering a state of cardiac arrhythmia and becoming unresponsive. The students began to resuscitate the patient with chest compressions and assisted breathing. After a failed attempt, an AED was attached to the “patient,” and the students were told to stand back as the patient took the first 200-joule shock.
Despite their efforts, the patient was still unable to breathe on their own, and the students went back to performing more compressions as the “patient” was given a 1-milligram dose of epinephrine. After battling for over 10 minutes, the students finally succeeded in returning spontaneous circulation to the “patient.”
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KCFD1 then took over and rushed the patient to an ambulance parked outside of the DOW Center for Health Professions on Oregon Tech’s campus. The patient was then whisked over to AirLink CCT waiting for delivery at Lot O (a gravel parking lot behind the campus stadium).
After the exercise, the students were amazed at how realistic the scenario was. Student Jamie Cappello said, “I’ve never seen anything so realistic,” while her classmate, Halle Adair, agreed.
The purpose of the exercise was to further educate future respiratory therapists on handling emergency medical transport in a rural setting with limited supplies and access to care. The exercise provided the students with invaluable hands-on experience and prepared them for real-life situations.
Therefore, the emergency medical transport exercise at Oregon Tech was an excellent opportunity for future respiratory therapists to gain hands-on experience in a simulated emergency scenario. The exercise was challenging and realistic, providing the students with invaluable experience and preparing them for real-life situations.
Photo Credit: bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com
