Education in action was experienced by the Criminal Justice senior class through a mass casualty exercise. Students met in a conference room where a tense scenario was presented. They were told a tornado had hit a building, causing explosions. As first responders, they would be the first on-scene to deal with the casualties. Work-Based Learning Coordinator Cindy Christensen presented the scenario to the class. She said, “As soon as they heard the details, the students started making plans.” They discussed what supplies they would need and what actions they’d need to take.

The students ran to their usual classroom but found it in disarray. Tables and chairs were tossed about. They had only seconds to spread out, find everyone, assess their conditions, and begin stabilizing the victims until medical professionals would arrive. They found eight casualties: four live actors and four training manikins.

The live victims were portrayed by teachers Stephen Thorndike, Sarah Spindler, Theresa Cortez and Work-Based Learning Coordinator Brandilyn Steves. Each had serious visible injuries, simulations made of latex wounds and fake blood. By using live participants, the exercise delivered the unpredictability of dealing with humans. The actors were screaming, moaning and calling out for help. When asked to stay still until medical help arrived, the actors were often uncooperative, getting up to search for others or feigning disorientation.
Meanwhile, the training manikins had visible wounds and were labeled with other conditions. Some required CPR and defibrillation. In searching the disaster area, student Brock Gossling (Brockport) found a manikin under a pile of debris.

After 20 minutes, the students had the participants stabilized and the exercise ended. In their de-briefing session with teacher Tim Steves, the students talked about the techniques they used. Student Robert Torres (Holley) said he found Miss Spindler, introduced himself and asked if he could help her, before proceeding to bandage her leg wound. Joe Grasso (Hilton) found Mrs. Steves, who had a visible head wound. He got gauze for her head and determined she was going into shock. He was not able to find a blanket so he used his jacket to cover her.

The entire exercise was videotaped, allowing students to study their own actions after the event. Tim Steves told them, “Being first-time students going through this kind of exercise, I’m happy with the results. Hopefully you will use this experience during your careers.”