06/04/2026
Surry Community College Nursing Students Shut Down Streets to Perform Mass Casualty Simulation
A school bus filled with students wrecked with a Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation bucket truck, causing technicians and students to be injured in varying degrees – ranging from cuts and scrapes to open head wounds. While this may sound like the climax of an action movie, this was the scenario that played out involving Surry Community College’s Nursing Department on April 23.
This chaotic scene was part of a pre-planned Mass Casualty Event Simulation drill for the soon-to-graduate, second-year nursing students who are completing the Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) Program at SCC. To make the simulation as realistic as possible, SCC Cosmetic Arts students performed moulage, which is the art of using special effects makeup to replicate injuries in simulation-based education.
Over the course of several months, Nursing Instructors Sarah Broadstreet and Kim Hall worked closely with the Surry Community College Cosmetic Arts program, Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corporation, Surry County Emergency Services, Dobson Fire and Rescue, Northern Regional Hospital, AirCare Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and additional partners to design and implement the simulation. Senior faculty and collaborators developed victim scenarios, created triage tags, and coordinated logistics to ensure an immersive and effective learning experience.
The simulation began at 10 a.m. as a Surry Early College High School (SECHS) activity bus collided with a Surry-Yadkin EMC bucket truck at the intersection of Spoon Street and Frank Comer Boulevard. The traffic incident resulted in severe trauma and critical injuries. Simulated injuries created by cosmetic arts students ranged from minor superficial abrasions to open wounds embedded with glass and even a metal rod.
Nursing students then had to implement triage practices and prioritize ‘victims’ based on survivability; stabilize the emergency by providing airway support, hemorrhage control, and fracture immobilization; allocate resources such as managing the limited personnel available, administering IV fluids, oxygen supplies, and pain management; provide psychological first aid to distressed survivors and bystanders; and coordinate patient transport to trauma centers. As a measure of added realism, a helicopter operated by AirCare Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist landed during the simulation to transport victims.
The simulation allowed nursing students to apply critical thinking, triage, and emergency response skills in a controlled yet realistic environment. Following the event, the students expressed enthusiasm, sharing that the experience was both challenging and rewarding.
“As instructors, we are incredibly proud of our students and all that they have accomplished. With just two weeks remaining before their pinning ceremony, this event served as a culmination of not only what they have learned this semester, but also the knowledge and clinical judgment they have developed throughout their nursing program at SCC,” echoed Broadstreet and Hall.
The Mass Casualty Simulation drill was made possible by the dedication and support of volunteers and community partners including the SCC Cosmetic Arts program, SCC Facilities, SCC Technology Services, SCC Marketing, SECHS HOSA Club, Dobson Fire and Rescue, Surry County Emergency Services, Surry County Mobile Command, Surry-Yadkin EMC and AirCare Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
If you would like to learn more about SCC’s Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) Program, contact Megan Stanley, SCC Health Science Advisor, at [email protected] or (336) 386-3308. For more information about SCC’s Cosmetic Arts Program, contact Robin Minton, Director of Cosmetic Arts, at (336) 386-3570 or [email protected].
Course registration is currently underway at SCC. The fall semester begins August 17. For assistance with college application, financial aid, or registering for classes, contact Student Services at (336) 386-3264 or [email protected].
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