By LEANN JUNKER
Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA)
Had it been a real emergency, the victims would have spent a lot less time smiling.
And the words “fun,” “cool” and “thrilling” probably wouldn’t have rolled off their tongues.
But the reality is 23 student council members from Carroll Middle School found some excitement in their roles as patients during a disaster drill Tuesday morning at Mon Valley Care Center.
The scenario played out by the students, emergency medical services and fire personnel and Monongahela Valley Hospital started off with a fake fire on the second floor of the Mon Valley Care Center in Carroll Township.
Each student was then evacuated, assigned a medical condition and given a list of vital signs.
At the hospital, Dr. Andrew Allison helped sort out the patients in the triage area of the newly remodeled emergency department. The goal, he explained, was to keep track of everyone and keep accurate records to “make sure everyone is accounted for.”
Allison, chairman of the emergency disaster planning committee, said the hospital holds drills like this routinely as a learning tool in the event of a true disaster.
Eighth-grader Steffany Scagline came in as an 80-year-old women who had fallen and hurt her right arm.
“It was fun,” Scagline said. “It was a good learning experience. It made me want to think about a career in the hospital.”
Scagline, who is thinking about a career as a physical therapist, was transported to the hospital from the care center on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance.
It was the first time she had ever been in an ambulance. “I was nervous,” she admitted.
Jacob Burnisky got to the hospital on a fire truck, which he said was cool and thrilling.
Although he started out the drill as a 76-year-old patient, he later played the role of a parent waiting to hear the condition of his son.
“I was asking about how my son was,” Burnisky said.
“I thought the hospital staff handled everything very well,” said Burnisky, who added he’s considering a career as a physician.
“I like to help people,” he explained.
Melinda Klingovsky, computer science teacher at Carroll Middle School, thought the drill was a good opportunity for the students to learn more about the importance of health and emergency careers.
Ryan Shannon, sixth-grade social studies teacher, thought the drill went well.
“I think the kids were very excited,” he said. “They keep talking about it and reliving the steps. I think they really learned a lot. I’d love to do this again. I think it really benefited the students.”