CORNING, N.Y. -- Nursing students at SUNY Corning Community College sharpened their clinical and emergency response skills during a mass casualty drill held at the Health Education Center.
Throughout the drill, students rotated through a variety of mock patient situations commonly encountered in hospital settings, including patients in labor, traumatic injuries, broken bones, and unconscious patients. Some students also served as victims to help create a realistic and immersive training environment.
Taylor Wilson, a sophomore and President of the CCC Nursing Society, said the exercise captured the real-world chaos of emergency medicine in a controlled setting.
“We had so many different scenarios; one of my [mock] patients was having a baby, and then we had another patient that was coding, people with broken hips, broken bones, some people that were unconscious and needed to go to the operating room,” Wilson said. “It gives us that real-life chaotic feeling, but in a cool, calm and collected environment.”
The drill was a collaboration between the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Steuben County Public Health and Emergency Services, providing students with an opportunity to work with regional emergency response partners.
“Holding a mass casualty exercise within our community was an invaluable experience for our nursing students,” said Krystal Jubilee, SUNY CCC’s Director of Nurse Education. “It truly allowed them to move beyond the classroom and apply what they have learned over the past four semesters in critical thinking, prioritization, and teamwork in a high-pressure real-world scenario.”
The mass casualty drill was developed by Assistant Professor of Nursing, Lisa Palumbo, and reflects the College’s commitment to preparing practice-ready graduates who can respond with confidence, competence, and compassion in times of crisis.