UNE mass casualty training

Medical students from the University of New England learned and trained Saturday on how to respond to mass casualties.

The event was hosted by UNE's World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine Club (WADEM Club) and is now in its fourth year.

The day included presentations by medical professionals, training with medical equipment, and two simulated Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs): a shooting scenario and a major vehicle accident scenario.

“A mass casualty incident is any situation in which the number of patients or the magnitude of the event exceeds resources,” said Kyle Scully, an associate professor of medicine at UNE. “And in Maine it’s more common than we might think.”

A focus of this year's training was mass shootings. Especially looking back at the findings of medical professionals after the mass shooting in Lewiston last October.

“The shootings occurred about a week after the MCI simulation last year, and we decided it was relevant and appropriate for us to include them in our training,” said WADEM Club President Wyatt Blackstone. “In the future, healthcare providers will have to deal with this throughout their careers.”

The students had the opportunity to listen to a lecture and talk to Dr. Timothy Counihan, chief of surgery at Central Maine Health, who shared his experiences on the day of the mass shooting.

Students say the opportunity to learn the skills for such scenarios is all too important.

“It is extremely important that not only health professionals are familiar with these situations,” said student teaching assistant Alicia Munch, “but also laypeople who are familiar with these situations and understand that something can go wrong at any time and you could potentially have one “Have to make a leap.” as a provider.”