Rocky Mountain University helps students prepare for mass casualty response

PROVO — Elle Absher is studying to become a nurse practitioner, but Monday morning, she experienced a simulated, high-stress emergency, the kind she may never have to deal with in real life in her career.

“It kind of forced you to think fast,” Absher said. “Think on your feet, and just be able to roll with punches. Whatever comes up, you have to be able to respond to and take care of those people who are injured.”

On the back lawn of Rocky Mountain University, dozens of student actors were covered in fake blood, bruises, and wounds. Many of them were screaming out for help, with varying degrees of injuries.

A few were there to portray people who died during the simulated emergency of a bleachers collapse.

“It looks a little chaotic, but it’s a great experience,” Joel Tenbrink, the school’s Professional Practice Education Committee Chair, explained. “Most of us are clinicians. We work in, in hospitals where people are already taken care of. But, this gets a little out of their comfort zone, and help them see what happens before they get to them.”

Tenbrink helped organize the mass casualty drill and said getting first responders like the Provo Fire Department involved was key.

“Provo Fire would be directing care and kind of telling people where they need to be, where they need to be transported. And so having them run that instant command is really helpful,” he said.

Inside, students took turns practicing tourniquets, spinal boarding, and wound packing. By the end of the day, hundreds of them were to be put through the whole process.

Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions specializes in helping graduate-level students finish their degrees and residencies in various healthcare fields.