Dyersburg State CC holds annual EMT mass casualty incident training

The blood and screams may be fake but the experience feels real.

EMT students from Dyersburg State Community College were tested this afternoon with a mass casualty incident drill.

For Jason McDonald and his fellow students, the drill was chance to test out what they had learn in class in a real setting.

“it was pretty chaotic. I learned a lot and I learned that it is very, very hectic at first but once you get your arms around the situation and you have good people around you then things can fall into place.”

This is the fourth year DSCC has done this MCI drill with their EMT students.

As part of the drill the school partners with local first responders to help show students what they did right and wrong during the drill according to program director Jim Long.

“everything is moulage, so we can stop it and have educational moments as we go through there. We call it a drill but its more of an educational process.”

The EMT program started holding this event because of the rise in MCI events like shootings across the country in recent years.

“it’s a real world situation we could have in any community so we just want to put them through their paces.”

For the students, the biggest takeaway from today’s event wasn’t a practical skill like tending to a wound or putting someone on a stretcher.

It was how they need to handle themselves in the face of a situation.

“we need to learn to stay calm because we’re always going to be thrown in stressful situations" says EMS student Melody Pierce

Dyersburg state staff tell me they’re already planning next year’s event to make it bigger and better than this year’s.

15 students took part in today’s mass casualty drill