Thursday, 29 February 2024
Academics from the University of Nottingham joined paramedics and firefighters this week for a road traffic collision (RTC) exercise to help health science students to better understand a patient’s journey from road to hospital.
The exercise was a collaborative effort between the University, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue and the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS). It gave students studying nursing, midwifery, medicine and physiotherapy, the opportunity to see how emergency services professionals respond, make decisions and work together to handle a serious RTC.
The RTC was staged on the University’s University Park campus and was set up as a road accident ‘scene’, with two crashed cars containing ‘casualties’.
The emergency services attend to the casualty
The Fire Service attended the scene, assessed the casualties and then extracted them safely from the crashed cars, which included taking the roof off one of the cars. The ambulance service were then on hand to receive the casualties, assess them at the scene before transferring them into the ambulance for transport to hospital.
This is a simulated incident, but we obviously wanted to try and make it look and feel as real as possible to maximise the learning experience for our students. The event went really well and we had some brilliant feedback about how useful the students found it. We are really grateful for the help and continued support of the fire service and ambulance service, without who, the exercise wouldn’t be possible. It was a great example of collaborative working.”
The Fire Service remove the car roof
Next week, the students will have a session in the University’s immersion suite where they will see the ‘casualties’ arrive in A&E and then follow their journey as they are assessed, treated and rehabilitated.
Station Manager Jonathan Wilson of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We are delighted to be back working with partners at the University of Nottingham and East Midlands Ambulance Service.
“This is an opportunity not only for us to train alongside EMAS outside of an incident setting to be the best when are skills are put into practice, but for medical students to understand more about our work and how we deal with patients on scene.”
Nicola Stewart, Duty Commander in Nottinghamshire at EMAS said: “Today’s exercise has been a great opportunity to test and improve our skills for this type of incident, working with our partners. Thank you to those from EMAS who attended to support the event and we hope the students found it enjoyable and useful for their ongoing studies.”
Story credits
More information is available from Beth Watson, Senior Operations Manager in the School of Health Sciences at beth.watson@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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