Emergency drill Shows How Health Professionals Work Under Pressure

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Students from an area high school had a chance to see how medical professionals work together in real life situations.

It was part of an initiative that shows the importance of teamwork among medical professionals and it also gives soon to be high school graduates a chance to learn more about career paths in the medical field.

As the ambulance pulls up with the patient, healthcare professionals are drawing on their skills, experience and teamwork.

This drill is graphic and as close to real world as possible.

Itawamba Community College’s Health Science Division hosted the “Code Blue and Red” drill at the Health Science Education Center at the Tupelo Campus.

“We wanted a way to showcase the healthcare team, this is a new emphasis in health care education called interdisciplinary studies,” said Rilla Jones, Dean of Health Science Instruction.

For each emergency simulation, students and faculty from the five health science programs demonstrated what they would do in a real life situation.

“We used paramedic technology for ambulance and ems services, associate degree nurses for patient care in emergency room, respiratory technology came in for trauma and breathing treatment, radiographic did x rays and surgical involved in patient who went to surgery,” Jones said.

As medical professionals did their work, a group of students from Saltillo High School were watching and learning. Sydney Duggar will graduate in December. She will start at ICC in January and plans on becoming a nurse.

Duggar says the emergency simulations were intense.

“I’ve been shadowing with labor and delivery and stuff like that so I haven’t seen trauma, it’s not what I thought, a lot more than what I thought. You don’t think stuff actually happens like , their guts fall out, but it really does happen,” Duggar said.

After the emergency simulations, Duggar and her classmates heard from ICC students, faculty and health care professionals , and had a chance to ask questions about different career paths available.

This is the first time ICC has held “Code Blue and Red” ICC plans on inviting other high schools to similar events.