Training Unites Students & Services
The University has again led a successful mass casualty training exercise for the Paramedic Science Programme, which took place at UWS’s Lanarkshire campus. The exercise has evolved over the years since the introduction of the programme to UWS. The scale of the exercise now includes students across several programmes, including Nursing & Midwifery students. We also have medical students from the University of Glasgow integrated into the training event.
The exercise involves Paramedic students managing casualties at the designated exercise area before transporting them to the skills lab spaces. There, they hand over care to Medical, Nursing, or Midwifery students, ensuring continuity of care. The simulation then evolves dynamically to meet the learning needs of all participants involved.
The growing reputation of this simulation has seen a number of professional bodies and services wishing to engage in the exercise, recognising the benefits of such a large-scale practical simulation event. This year has seen the Scottish Ambulance Service attend, with both ambulance crews and rapid response vehicles. We have seen participation from Police Scotland, who provided community policing teams as well as command logistics.
We have also welcomed Scotstar Emergency Medical Retrieval Service and Trauma Teams, as well as Scottish Multi-Agency Resilience Training and Exercise Unit and the Major Incident Command Teams from the Scottish Ambulance Service. We also had the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service Command Team attend as observers to look at their integration into the exercise next year.
With more than 50 actors and 150 students, as well as all the representatives from other agencies involved, this has been the largest exercise to date. The feedback so far has commended the quality and standard of the students engaged across the exercise. This demonstrates our commitment to supporting the UWS 2030 strategy for strengthening community engagement and promoting positive collaborations with local partners and others within our community.
