LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – For students preparing to work in health care, being ready for the unexpected isn\u2019t a choice, it\u2019s a requirement.<\/p>\n
At Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, future doctors, nurses and first responders participated in a simulated disaster scenario designed to test their ability to make critical decisions under pressure.<\/p>\n
The scene feels authentic because it\u2019s meant to. Patients call out for help. Teams move quickly, assessing who needs immediate attention and who can wait.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t touch it, it hurts too bad,\u201d one simulated patient says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOw ow ow ow,\u201d another cries out.<\/p>\n
Students must work together, making rapid decisions while managing multiple casualties at once.<\/p>\n
Johnson says the exercise emphasizes more than medical skills, it\u2019s about how teams function when opinions clash.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day you can find yourself needing help you want a team that talks to each other. So today we really try to emphasize, prioritizes as a team that results in a disagreement. What do you do when your team disagrees. That is a learning outcome for when your in practice. That\u2019s what is so important,\u201d Kyle Johnson, executive director of simulation at TTUHSC, said.<\/p>\n
Actors add emotional intensity to the scenarios, forcing students to maintain focus even when situations escalate.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease shut up. Don\u2019t talk about my baby like that. Your baby is driving me crazy,\u201d one actor shouts during the simulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what hit you miss? No?\u201d a student asks while assessing injuries.<\/p>\n
Students from different disciplines, medicine, nursing, emergency services, collaborate on patient care, mirroring how real-world emergencies unfold.<\/p>\n
Lydia Timmons, a TTUHSC student, says that diversity strengthens outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have five people all from different backgrounds and you have learned different things that\u2019s so much better for the patient than it is for 5 people of the same specialty that kind of knows the same thing. Seeing all that come together for the sake of getting a patient feeling better,\u201d Timmons said.<\/p>\n
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