Emergency Drill coming augh!!!

Kaelin, an incoming MOT student, wrote me about being involved in emergency drills, it sounds fascinating! I copy/pasted the e-mail….

I found your blog a few weeks ago and I’ve enjoyed reading
it. I’m starting OT school at the University of BLANK in the fall
(I’m so excited!) and I love hearing about the types of things you do.

About
the emergency drills – I’ve done a couple of these and I’ve actually
really enjoyed them. I mean, obviously if it was a real situation it
wouldn’t be good, but to me, it kind of felt like being in a movie (all
the make, lights, smoke machines, etc.) and it was fun. I don’t know
exactly how one in an airport would work because it seems that there
would be a lot of security and stuff that might change things (I went
to one at a school and one in a big office park) but I’ll give you some
tips based on my experience. First, all the victims arrive early, and
are assigned injuries. I discovered that it’s best to get there as
early as possible so you can get the “best” (aka most fun to act out)
injury. Also, you should wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty
(fake blood, make up, latex). I think a tank top is best (depending on
the weather), because it’s a lot easier to put on the make up for
chest and arm injuries than if you were wearing a long sleeved shirt.
It takes awhile to do all the victims’ make up, so I would bring a book
or something for this part. After everyone’s in makeup you’ll probably
be assigned a place to be. When I was at the school, they put several
people in each classroom. At the office park we were in the cafeteria
and it was supposed to be lunchtime (everyone getting food/ eating).
Once they start the drill, the lights will probably be turned out, and
they may have smoke machines, etc. I actually found this part scary and
somewhat realistic-feeling. Everyone’s generally moaning and
screaming, and then the firemen/ other emergency people run in. They do
a triage and try to get people who can walk to walk out, then carry
those who can’t. The dead people are the last to be brought out (try
not to be a dead person – you’ll just lay there forever). Generally
once people are brought out they’re separated into groups based on the
severity of their injuries, and then depending on how far your drill
goes, people may be taken to the hospital. I hope this helps you know
what to expect. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I’ll
do my best to answer.

Thanks for the blog and keep up it up! I love reading it.

May 05, 2008 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 1