PREPARING FOR CRISIS SITUATIONS
Gunpowder exposes third-year medical students to the many different challenges they may experience in future conflicts. Students learn about group dynamics, and how stress will affect their ability to provide care. In the two-day field exercise, small teams of students work together to provide different forms of care to volunteer “patients” in surgical cutsuits, which allow the students to make real incisions without injuring the patient. Students practice prolonged field care, which consists of lessons in hemorrhage control, using catheters, and airway management. Other scenarios focus on en-route care and learning how to correctly package patients for transportation. They also train on forward surgical resuscitation, which allows them to practice skills such as limb debridement, pain management, and fasciotomy.
A reliable team can mean the difference between life and death in a crisis situation. It takes effective leadership under pressure to navigate a team to success, and in austere, resource-constrained environments, only trained health care teams can provide the efficient and accurate care necessary for survival.
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MEDICAL FIELD PRACTICUM 201
Students gain first-hand experience in Advanced Trauma Life Support and Tactical Combat Casualty Care scenarios to better understand group dynamics, small-team leadership, and successful communications strategies during crisis situations.