MALTA — On Wednesday, May 17 at the Kishwaukee Education Consortium Campus in Malta, students from KEC’s certified nursing assistant, fire science, criminal justice, medical terminology and sports medicine programs participated in an all-day mass casualty drill.  

The purpose of the exercise was to provide training across disciplines, so students from different disciplines could learn how to work as a single team to facilitate victim care. 

The scenarios:  A chemical exposure scenario inside a long-term care facility and a severe weather disaster that hit an outdoor festival. 

Students were tasked with securing the scene, assigning roles, triaging and treating victims, and allocating resources.

All disciplines did an excellent job and were able to take away from the event some valuable lessons.

In addition to the drills, students were given the opportunity to practice putting out controlled fires using fire extinguishers so they will be better prepared to act in an emergency.

KEC member schools include Rochelle Township High School, DeKalb, Genoa-Kingston and Sycamore High Schools.