Baystate Health and AMR Disaster Training

AGAWAM, Mass. (WWLP) – Baystate Health and AMR hosted a “disaster day training” at Six Flags New England that was all about preparing AMR’s paramedic students for medical emergencies.

Triaging, bleeding control drills, and mock transports were just a few of the ways that Baystate Health and AMR trained the students for a mass casualty event in a public area.

“It’s so beneficial you get the hands-on skills you learn all this stuff before you go out to the field so it gives us a better feel of being prepared in case of an actual disaster and not stumbling as much or tripping over what to do,” said Talia Goode, an AMR student.

During the drills, students got a chance to lay out triage tarps and practice giving patients treatment while also experiencing the in-hospital portion of the scenario. “We need to be ready for the large-scale events and be ready to take action immediately. Make sure that we are coordinating not only the care with our local fire departments, EMS systems, and police departments but also how do we coordinate the care with the hospitals that are receiving those patients as well,” said Seth Kelly with Baystate Health.

“You’re going to get better and better with practice the more training you do and a place like this it’s not rare but it’s not always happening at a place like this you have all the malls and stuff so a place like this is important to train in with everything going on in different states and casualties I think it’s important to do the training,” said Cristian Guadalupe, a paramedic student.

Event organizers say they plan to continue doing these mock training drills to give students the hands-on experience that they need to help save lives.

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Kiara Smith is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since March 2023. Follow Kiara on X @KiaraBSmith1 and view her bio to see more of her work.

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