MHC paramedic students participate in training simulation with HALO
Dressed in uniform and divided into groups, Medicine Hat College (MHC) paramedic students arrived to class yesterday expecting to participate in a mock mass-casualty event. What they did not expect was to call a helicopter to land on MHC’s north soccer pitch as part of their learning scenario.
Thanks to a collaboration between MHC’s School of Health & Community Services and HALO Air Ambulance, the addition of the helicopter to the training provided an element of realism to the event, while gaining specific competencies related to air ambulances, explains Scott Mullin, program coordinator and instructor for the paramedic program.
“The students have not learned how to call in a helicopter, so it was an entirely new experience for them. We thought the surprise would be exciting while teaching them vital skills like how to create a safe-landing zone, how to approach a helicopter and significant components of patient care within an air ambulance, which they can now take with them into their careers.”
The students began the scenario in the simulation lab and through problem-solving and team communication, they determined their patient needed advanced life support (ALS). The students then practiced intubating the patient and wheeling them outside, where they were greeted with the helicopter circling overhead. The training was both a test of their knowledge and communication skills, with first and second year students working together in teams.
Second-year paramedic student, Gillian Allegro, was attending the call and says the opportunity to both work in a new space and to mentor first-year students was a great learning experience.
“It was intense, but really fun,” says Allegro. “It was cool to get to work with people who don’t work at that level, so teaching the first-years, as well as working on my communication with them was pretty cool.”
Mullin adds that local and regional partnerships are an important part of equipping paramedic students with skills to support the profession.
“We strive to engage the students with experiential activities that support the realities of the profession, which contributes significantly to attaining competency. We are grateful for the local and regional partnership that HALO provides and appreciate the opportunity to utilize them within this event.”
The program coordinator also thanks Alberta Health Services EMS and Cypress County Emergency Services for contributing emergency vehicles as visuals for the learning scenario.
To learn more about the paramedic program at MHC, visit www.mhc.ab.ca.