We know how important it is for aspiring healthcare professionals to get hands-on training as part of their student life. To support the teaching experience of our School of Health Sciences, academics, firefighters, paramedics, and members of the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) worked together to simulate a Road Traffic Collision (RTC) on campus.
Through the simulation demonstrating a patient's journey from the incident ground to hospital care and discharge, students were able to gain an understanding of pre-hospital care, the role of the emergency services and communication strategies utilised.
Have a closer look at how the day went.
Watch the school of Health Sciences teaching event of a simulated road traffic collision in partnership with Nottingham Fire Rescue service and East Midlands Ambulance Service. See how multidisciplinary teams work together on site and in clinical skills with the full journey of the patient from extraction to rehabilitation- with nurses, midwives and physios. You’ll see two cars that have crashed in head on collision with multiple patients trapped, played by students and with mannequins from the clinical skills units. They will be rescued and cut out of cars by the fire service then assessed on treated on the scene before being transported to A&E with students observing this close hand learning how the emergency services work together making decisions and communicate in emergency situation.
You can also watch a recap of the day on TikTok and Instagram.
The RTC was staged on University Park campus and was set up as a road accident ‘scene’, with two crashed cars containing ‘casualties’. 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.
Following the simulation was a session in the immersion suite, simulating the ambulance journey, management in A+E and subsequent rehabilitation and discharge. The presentation outlined the planning/ logistics of running of the event, the impact of the event on student experience and learning and considerations for future planning.
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.
Jonathan Wilson
Station Manager at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service
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.
Carli Whittaker
Director of Clinical Skills at the University of Nottingham
As a Health Sciences student at the University of Nottingham, you'll learn from experts in their field and have access to facilities that let you get hands-on. With teaching that puts practicality, innovation and inclusivity first, you'll always be learning the latest developments in the sector.
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