Texas A&M University college students sorted by the chaos of tropical storm-induced floodwaters, an earthquake and a capturing on Friday in a simulated catastrophe designed to organize future well being care professionals for large-scale emergencies.

The student-led train, held at Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service’s (TEEX) Disaster City in College Station, examined college students in a wide range of areas, together with triage, affected person care, psychological well being help and catastrophe administration.

Started by the Texas A&M School of Nursing in 2008, the coaching has grown from a small occasion within the fitness center of an area church to a daylong catastrophe simulation involving greater than 700 college students, over 100 school and employees members, and quite a few emergency response professionals. Students from Texas A&M faculties of dentistry, medication, nursing, pharmacy and public well being, in addition to athletic coaching, psychology and veterinary medication college students and the Corps of Cadets, participated within the drill.

Christine Kaunas, assistant vp for Interprofessional Practice, Education & Research (IPER) at Texas A&M Health Science Center, mentioned the annual Disaster Day train is a vital element of getting ready college students to work collectively in emergency conditions.

“Since 2020 alone, Texas has seen over 15 disasters and related declarations, including wildfires, tropical storms, hurricanes, winter storms, and of course COVID-19. Ensuring that our health professions students are prepared to respond effectively when, not if, a disaster strikes is crucial,” Kaunas mentioned.

More than 50 college students from Texas A&M Health work to plan and set up the occasion, with oversight from school and employees members in addition to employees from TEEX, the Texas Division of Emergency Management and taking part companions.

Each 12 months, a brand new situation is chosen and saved secret till the day of the occasion to supply the realism of an surprising state of affairs. This 12 months’s simulated catastrophe included a tropical storm, flooding, an earthquake and an lively shooter. The college students engaged in triage on the catastrophe website, affected person care at mock discipline hospitals, psychological well being care and wishes evaluation at an evacuation shelter and household reunification middle, and catastrophe administration and simulation oversight at Disaster City’s Emergency Operations Training Center.

During the simulation, college students tackle the position of sufferers or suppliers or interact in search and rescue. Students who take part as sufferers obtain make-up, generally known as moulage, to imitate accidents based mostly on the situation. Patients act out the case they’re assigned, whereas college students in roles of physicians and nurses do discipline assessments then switch sufferers to a discipline hospital for extra prognosis and therapy. Pharmacy college students work with suppliers to find out the medicines wanted, and psychology college students present the psychological well being care required of catastrophe victims. Athletic coaching and dentistry college students present specialised care in orthopedic and delicate tissue trauma, and head and neck accidents, respectively. Public well being college students handle the catastrophe to deploy assets and tackle outbreaks. The veterinary college students present look after animals affected by the catastrophe.

Dr. Angela Clendenin, a Texas A&M Health tutorial affiliate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, mentioned the train is efficient as a result of it has all of the parts of an actual emergency, with completely different folks coming collectively to unravel the issue.

“It shows them exactly the things that can happen in a community and it gives them the soft skills of communication across disciplines, teamwork, leadership, collaboration, but at the same time, I think it gives them confidence so that if something were to happen in a community where they end up practicing, they can have that muscle memory,” she mentioned.

Allyson Rioux, a first-year nursing pupil, acted out the position of somebody with an harm and mentioned she was focused on seeing how the opposite college students would diagnose and deal with her accidents.

“This is exactly what you learn in nursing school, how to assess symptoms and then make a treatment plan based on what they’re presenting with,” she mentioned.

Other college students mentioned the train helped join their classroom expertise with the real-life challenges of the occupation.

“It’s really interesting to see what I’ve learned in my emergency management class play out. It is the first hands-on experience that I have really gotten,” mentioned Olivia Bomba ’26, a public well being main.

“Disaster Day serves as an amazing learning opportunity for students by striking a balance between the chaos of an emergency and providing the structure and support necessary for successful and meaningful learning,” mentioned Lyssa Losa, a graduate pupil in environmental well being on the School of Public Health and planning director for Disaster Day.

As the occasion has grown, so has the collaboration with firms and authorities companies, together with H-E-B, Salvation Army, St. Joseph Health, Pulsera and the Texas Department of Emergency Management. Members of the college group, personal and public companions, and representatives from native, state and federal companies toured this 12 months’s occasion to find out about Texas A&M Health’s efforts to handle catastrophe response.

“Disaster Day stands as a testament to Texas A&M Health’s proactive commitment in shaping agile and resilient Aggie health professionals,” mentioned Indra Reddy, chief working officer and vp at Texas A&M Health. “With the escalating frequency of large-scale emergencies, we take pride in the assurance that Aggie health professionals are well prepared and ready to respond.”