‘Trauma Rodeo’ Prepares Paramedics for the Unexpected
Imagine this as your to-do list for the day: “Step out. Make tough decisions. Manage chaos. Be a leader. Save a life.” For the students in Medic One’s Paramedic Training Class #50, that was their task during this year’s Trauma Rodeo, held on April 25 at the Bellevue Public Safety Training Center.
The Trauma Rodeo, now in its 21st year, is a collaboration between the Bellevue and Seattle Fire Departments. It is one of many challenging, ultra-realistic drills funded each year by donations to the Medic One Foundation.
Imagine this as your to-do list for the day: “Step out. Make tough decisions. Manage chaos. Be a leader. Save a life.” For the students in Medic One’s Paramedic Training Class #50, that was their task during this year’s Trauma Rodeo, held on April 25 at the Bellevue Public Safety Training Center.
Paramedic students pair up and rotate through a variety of scenarios, each starting with a dispatch call offering limited information. When the students arrive on the scene, experienced firefighter/EMTs brief them on the patient’s condition. Senior paramedics stand nearby, analyzing the students’ actions and making detailed notes.
The patients’ injuries vary. Some have fallen or jumped, one is crushed under a concrete slab, others have been in car crashes. They suffer from broken bones, collapsed lungs, internal bleeding, erratic vital signs, and more. These unfortunate patients are medical manikins and human volunteers with shockingly realistic-looking injuries — thanks to “moulage” artists who create effects such as horrific bruises, bloody gashes, and exposed bones.
In addition to treating, stabilizing, and transporting their patients to the hospital, the students must also manage turmoil on the scene, such as calming hysterical witnesses. Each scenario concludes at a mock hospital emergency room where the students unload their patient and summarize their medical status for a trauma physician. Finally, each student is critiqued, with the entire teaching team providing specific feedback and answering questions.
The drills are nerve-racking and exhausting for the students. Eric Timm, director of the Paramedic Training program, says, “At this point in the students’ training, everything they’ve learned is flooding into their minds. They tend to over-think. We remind them to focus and reset themselves mentally and remember the basics.” Timm continues, “Today, failure is success. We want them to try all-out. Today, errors are a good thing because that means they won’t make those same mistakes with a real patient.”
Class 50 is in the final stretch of their training and are now on the medic units treating patients while being evaluated by senior paramedics and physicians. In July, they will graduate and return to their agencies to begin serving their community.
Donations to the Medic One Foundation play a significant role in the training of Medic One paramedics, ensuring that future paramedics receive the necessary education and experience to save lives effectively.
