Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Middle and high school students from six North Carolina counties will manage healthcare for a disaster drill 8 a.m.- noon Saturday, March 14 at Wagoner Hall and Madeline Suite parking lot FF.

Mass casualty triaging, a rare experience for the most seasoned nurses, will be conducted by students of the UNC Wilmington School of Nursing (SON) Camp BONES (Brigade of Nurse Exploring Seahawks) Academy. Camp BONES is a four-year education program that aims to address the national nursing shortage by preparing underrepresented and underserved high school students for careers in nursing and health fields before college.

During the regular N. C. State Medical Assistance Team (SMAT) drill, around 30 Camp BONES students will be dressed in healthcare uniforms or as disaster victims in "moulage" makeup simulating actual life-threatening injuries.

The drill scenario is a hazardous chemical spill and explosion in a campus chemistry laboratory. "Victims" will be suffering from burns and injuries sustained, some leading to "casualties." SMAT members and Camp BONES teenagers will assess and treat victims with the help of SMAT, SON students, SON faculty and community volunteers. SMAT will provide its 50-bed mobile field hospital, stretchers and other medical tools for drill simulation.

Since 2006, Camp BONES has educated 33 young participants during summer residential experiences and weekend intensive exercises such as the disaster drill. Each summer, a new group, or cohort, of Camp BONES students from southeastern N.C. begin the program and continue until high school graduation. Major funding for the program is provided by the N.C. GlaxoSmithKline Foundation and Burroughs Wellcome.

Media are invited to capture visual and interview opportunities at the drill upon request. Students and volunteers will be in medical uniforms, or in prosthetics and makeup that simulate injury.

Media contact:
Jamie Smith, UNCW Marketing and Communications, 910.515.4596 or smithj@uncw.edu