Nathan Seward has already seen a few not-so-pretty things in his first year of service as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
But that hasn’t dissuaded him from wanting to take it a step further and become a certified paramedic.
It’s one of the reasons Seward said he benefited Tuesday from the mock trauma scenarios put on through Crowder College’s paramedic program.
The trauma enactments were set up to get Crowder students who are enrolled in the program close to real-life situations, while under the eye of professional preceptors.
Working in groups of two, paramedic students rotated in and out of each scenario, which included treating “victims” of stabbings, bad burns and car accidents.
After being advised on the pertinent information about the particular victim and circumstances for each scene, the students physically and vocally walked themselves through the field diagnosis as an evaluator stood by, marking their progression on a chart. Afterward, the students were told what they did right and what they did wrong — or what they simply didn’t do at all but should have.
Seward, one of eight students currently enrolled in Crowder’s program, has wanted to be a paramedic for a couple of years now. Tuesday’s pseudo-practicum just got him one step closer.
“It’s a great learning experience,” he said. “I mean, we’d rather make our mistakes here than out in the field. So there’s always something to learn from.”
Crowder paramedic instructor and organizer of Tuesday’s activities, Kristin Spencer, said the trauma scenarios were made as realistic as possible, even going so far as to bring in a former Hollywood make-up artist to create the life-looking blood and gore. The “victims” were culled from the college and from local high schools.
Neosho, Mo. —
