LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — More than 100 nursing students at UNLV are getting hands-on experience responding to disasters through the school’s first-ever mass casualty simulation.
The training is designed to mirror the chaos of a real emergency complete with sirens, screaming victims, and emergency radio chatter.
WATCH | UNLV nursing students train for worst-case scenarios in mass casualty simulation
Students are placed in a fast-moving scenario where they must quickly assess patients, stop life-threatening bleeding, and communicate with emergency responders.
Faculty say the idea for the simulation came after the Las Vegas community experienced multiple mass casualty events, including the Route 91 shooting and the shooting on UNLV’s campus.
Minnie Wood, a senior lecturer at UNLV’s School of Nursing, said the goal is to better prepare students for those high-pressure situations.
“What could we do to help our students to feel empowered to respond to incidents where there are multiple victims,” Wood said.
Inside the simulation, students must determine how serious injuries are, prioritize care, and relay information to emergency medical services.
“They’ve learned a lot of skills throughout this process, including how to stop the bleed, how to communicate with emergency medical services, how to communicate with patients who are in a crisis,” Wood said.
For students, the unpredictability of the exercise is part of what makes it feel real.
“They didn’t tell us exactly what the conditions of the patients were, their emotional status, anything like that… we just knew the skills you need to save lives,” said nursing student Andrew Birt.
Other students say the experience can feel overwhelming at first, but training helps them stay focused.
“It kind of puts you on edge starting off, but we’re taught to focus on tasks. We put our gloves on, got our stickers and then went to go assess patients,” said nursing student Brianna Aitken.
Instructors say the ultimate goal is to build confidence so students can respond quickly in real emergencies.
