Mock Car Crash Reveals The Inner Workings of Healthcare

On Tuesday, September 8, Nebraska Methodist College will hold an Interdisciplinary Day designed to emphasize to students the growing importance of interacting as a team in a healthcare setting.

The event will kick off with students from across the fields of nursing and allied health gathering to watch a video presentation that goes through an eye-opening scenario that’s nonetheless all too common in an emergency room: a car wreck.

Students will learn about the Watson family, a tight-knit group involved in a single-vehicle automobile accident while on their way to a family reunion. After being provided the background of the patients and the symptoms they each present with when brought to the hospital, students must use their knowledge of their respective fields to provide an appropriate care plan to each member of the family.

Participants will carry out their work on a series of high-tech simulations. To the untrained eye, these simulations look just like your average mannequin. However, they become anything but when operated by a qualified instructor. These simulations mimic real-world symptoms an actual patient would experience, and students are tasked with reacting on the spot to the different obstacles that might pop up. NMC faculty will be available throughout the process to monitor proceedings, interject when necessary and debrief at the conclusion of each scenario.

The Wide World Of Healthcare

To call the world of healthcare a single field doesn’t do the concept justice. When a person in a car accident like this is brought in, they may be attended to by a nurse or rushed into surgery, where a surgical technologist is available to help the operation run smoothly.

Or, their first stop might be for an x-ray with a radiologic technologist or for an ultrasound with a sonographer. An individual suffering from breathing issues would be visited by a respiratory therapist. And when all is said and done and the patient begins the long road to recovery, their rehab regimen will bring them into the care of a physical therapist assistant.

It’s the multi-faceted nature of healthcare that is ultimately revealed through events like NMC’s Interdisciplinary Day. Students discover the reality of working in healthcare. While each and every role is certainly important, they all play off of each other in order to provide the best care possible to the patient. Everything is truly connected when lives are in the balance.

Stay tuned to the blog for more on Interdisciplinary Day, including interviews with the students who experienced the event.