07-03-2025
GCSC students participate in emergency response exercise
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Gulf Coast State College students participated in a learning experience Friday morning that can't be taught in the classroom.
Gulf Coast's North Bay campus hosted an Interprofessional Education (IPE) event featuring a helicopter crash simulation.
From search and rescue, to treating patients and assessing the crime scene, over 500 students worked together to handle an emergency scenario.
'Gulf Coast State College is all about students, and we want to make sure that our students have the best learning experiences. So, we're trying to simulate real world events, things that they might not always encounter but encounter at some point in their career,' GCSC IPE Director Dr. Jennifer Barber said.
Students from the nursing, health sciences, and public safety divisions collaborated to simulate a realistic emergency response scenario.
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'It can be a little anxious and nerve-wracking, but when you have good coworkers and students with you, they can make it fun and a lot more at ease,' GCSC law enforcement student Chantelle Polsgrove said.
'It's very beneficial, I would say, to kind of see everyone's role in class. I'm with my other respiratory students, but you get to see nurses, you get to see stenographers, hear dentals here, radiography is here, and you see how it is as a team. Whenever something like this can happen in real life or whenever you do go into the hospitals and you do all have to work together and how everyone's roles that you learn alone really do come together to give really good patient care,' GCSC respiratory care program student Alexis Dryden said.
The event takes about nine months of planning to ensure it's as realistic as possible.
Many students were thankful for the hands-on learning opportunity.
'It's nice to actually get to do something that feels at least semi real, you know what I mean? Because whenever you're training in a burn building, you know you're in a burn building. I mean, it's the same sort of thing here. But there's we got actors, you know, they're playing their part, so it kind of gives it a bit more realism,' GCSC student Jay Kemper said.
'It makes me proud of my college, that's for sure, because I think it's something that is definitely needed. It's starting to feel surreal. Like, you know, one day this is going to be what I'm going to be doing,' Dryden said.
The Unmanned Vehicle Systems and digital media programs also participated in Friday's event.
Each year, there is a different emergency scenario, and officials say this event will continue for years to come.
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