GB MET's Uniformed Services students attend major incident
On 23 May, students from both Uniformed Services and Theatrical Special Effects, Hair and Media Makeup took part in a training exercise at Worthing Fire Station, focusing on a RTC (Road Traffic Collision) incident where they had to organise and solve a live training scenario. The students were joined by expert volunteers from police, fire, and ambulance services who advised the students on incident information and assisted with the removal of patients from vehicles and administering first aid, as well as crime investigation and scene management.
The day started with the students receiving their briefs by the respective experts, which included an introduction of their role within the organisation and ultimately what each department does at the scene of an RTC. Upon arrival at Worthing Fire Station, students were allocated uniforms and signposted to their respective responder, while makeup students were getting ready with their injured party special effects.
Once the mock scenario went live, the students applied their skill sets and knowledge to solve, prioritise and organise this emergency scene. This included securing the area, identifying the injured parties, planning what needed to be done to ensure the safety of everyone and ultimately determining what happened in this accident. All throughout the training exercise, students were given the opportunity to see exactly how emergency services respond to situations and then implement their own knowledge and experience.
Connor Rogers (Student acting as tactical adviser for the fire service)
“It was a great experience to work with the fire service and have an insight to what they do and how to use the equipment and on how to command the fire service and how to work as a bronze responding to a road traffic collision”
Bethany Featherstone (Student acting as an injured party):
“It was really fun working with the other students and seeing how they work well with other people. The event was really fun and I enjoyed doing the makeup for the students and acting. Experiences like this help my skills in special effects makeup to get better and I can work faster if I am needed to, in the future industry.”
Lucas Macdonald (student acting as tactical adviser for the police service):
“I loved working in this scenario; it really showed us what life in the emergency services would be like day-to-day. My favourite part was when they started to cut students out of the cars involved with the real machinery that they use in a real RTC. We can take the skills that we have developed in this scenario, into our jobs including teamwork and key leadership skills, that any service we go into will be delighted to see from such young people..”
SLt. Louie Wellfare, who organised this training exercise, was beyond delighted with how all parties came together:
“This scenario was a fantastic opportunity to not only work collaboratively between college departments but to also extend our reach into course relevant external organisations. It was a fantastic opportunity for our students, who grabbed it with both hands; all involved were switched on, listened to the information of the experts and acted accordingly. I am very thankful to Caroline Hand and the GB MET Hair & Beauty department; Simon Aston who runs our first aid at work courses within the College, SGT Davies from Sussex Police and Sir Rodney Gates from West Sussex Fire and Rescue. Without each of these contributors, the event could not and would not have been possible on this scale. Overall I think the scenario went really well and I am looking forward to running a similar one next year.”