Nursing students, UVAC to participate in disaster simulation on campus

A bus accident with multiple injuries will be the focus of a disaster simulation April 27 at the the University of Maine for students in the School of Nursing and University Volunteer Ambulance Corps (UVAC).

The event, from 1–4 p.m. on campus, will feature a simulated bus accident and 31 actors with a range of injuries, including those that are life-threatening. The bus will be sited in a parking lot beside Alfond Stadium; a mock hospital will be set up in the School of Nursing, first floor of Dunn Hall.

The simulation will provide hands-on training for 34 UMaine senior nursing students in a 400-level community and population health class, led by assistant professor Kelley Strout. The students will be evaluated on their disaster response, including triage of victims.

UVAC staff, led by Student Chief Nicholas Montemurro, a senior nursing student, and Assistant Chief Aiden Koplovsky, a junior who is a zoology pre-med major, will be joined in the accident training exercise by area fire and rescue personnel in the area.

Numerous volunteers from the UMaine community are involved in the planning and implementation of the disaster simulation, including makeup artists from the Division of Theatre and Dance in the School of Performing Arts.

Directing the simulation is Charlene Ingwell-Spolan, UMaine assistant professor of nursing.