On Tuesday, April 16, 2024, Ukiah High School hosted a simulated Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) representing months of work and collaboration between multiple Ukiah High classes and local emergency agencies. The simulation provided Wildcats the opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience with a stressful real-world situation testing skills they learned in Ukiah High’s first responders program.
9th grader Amaya Upchurch, a Scrubs student who portrayed the Public Information Officer during the event, told us a mass casualty incident occurs when a scenario results in the number of patients overwhelming the number of responders, resources, and systems at the scene requiring collaboration between multiple agencies.
The partners for the event were extensive including the United States Coast Guard, the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, MedStar Ambulance, Adventist Health Ukiah Valley, Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Authority, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ukiah Police Department
Upchurch said the mock MCI was a simulated gas line explosion that took place at a half-constructed residential duplex. The explosion resulted in twelve victims; two of them died. Students from Chris Douthit’s Drama class portrayed the wounded and dead; his stagecraft students painted blood and wounds on the victims adding a gorey realism to the simulation.
Drama and Stagecraft Teacher Chris Douthit said his students researched possible injuries that could result from a gas explosion and the physicality of the human body after traumatic injuries.
To create realistic wounds, Douthit said his stagecraft kids used a “moulage kit” gifted by Brendan Turner with a multitude of prosthetics and make-up to approximate injuries.
12th-grader Stagecraft student Liam Brewer’s impalement injury might have been the best representation of these efforts. Douthit said Welding teacher Jay Montesonti created a metal band to go around Brewer’s waist which had pieces of wood screwed to replicate a traumatic impalement.
Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department Captain Quincy Cromer told us the destruction and broken families simulated in the MCI are typical of emergency situations. He praised Ukiah High’s Drama students for encapsulating the fear and trauma experienced at these events. He said, “They did a very good job at simulating the chaos that can happen on a scene like this and the injuries looked real.”
In the chaos of the MCI, Wildcats from the Scrubs program managed the emergency response. Upchurch explained that within the parameters of an MCI first responders are able to triage patients meaning that we can prioritize patients based on the severity of their injuries.
Watching the MCI simulation in action, first responders and students were gathered around patients assessing the severity of their injuries. There was an intensity in the air, at points there was a sense of chaos. As a witness, it was easy to forget that the event was a simulation.
Brenden Turner, head of Ukiah High’s Scrubs department, told us about the collaboration between the students and different emergency agencies. He told us this event initially began as “a collaboration between my class and Mr. Douthit’s Advanced Drama class, since that conversation started in February- it has definitely grown far beyond that.” Turner told us that by the day of the actual event a multiple other Ukiah High programs had joined in the efforts including Nick Pearson’s construction class which built the collapsed apartment building. The drama class portrayed the victims and different media teams from around campus such as Ukiah High News, Tobin Keller’s media studies class, and Corina Edwards’ English learners class documented the event.
Turner also spoke out about how the event progressively became more stressful leading up to it and during the event it became utter chaos. “I am definitely a lot more relaxed now that we are completed. It’s a high-stress situation but I think it is very rewarding and the outpouring of support that we had for this event was just overwhelming.” \
MCSO’s Captain Cromer told us that three weeks prior to the event local emergency medical services, fire departments, medics, dispatchers, and law enforcement hosted Q&A panels in The Little Theater. Students were able to ask questions about things like “why we chose this career? What led us to our position? And some of the things we have experienced.” The students were able to take everything that they had previously learned and apply it to their events.
United States Coast Guard Petty Officer Terrence Young represented the military during the exercise and was surprised when the day of the MCI came and he saw the enormity of the participants involved. “Originally I thought it was going to be a small deal- but come to find out it’s huge!” Petty Officer Young called the day a gratifying experience watching first responders and students work collectively to control the chaos of the simulated emergency. He added that, “any high schooler should be grateful to have this experience.”
UHS Senior Avary Banks played a vital role as a coordinator for the simulation itself. Instead of being hands-on in the field with her classmates, her job was to organize the day of the MCI. When asked how she felt about the event as a whole, she was grateful for Ukiah High saying not, “Many high schools get to do things like this.”
Banks attributed the event to Mr. Turner’s dedication to the Scrubs program and recognized the vital role students, teachers, responders, and the audience played in making the event “a moment to remember.”
Jen Banks, Ukiah Emergency Medical Services Coordinator and mother of senior Avary Banks was thrilled to work with the students at UHS. She was tasked with sequencing the timeline of the simulated MCI. When she initially took on the task, Banks knew she was creating a hands-on learning experience for the Scrubs students within the classroom. But, the event grew bigger and bigger as the date came closer. Watching students and first responders share skills and collaborate, Banks knew the event was a big success, especially for being the first kind at the high school.
Fred Keplinger, the instructor of Mendocino College’s Administration of Justice class and former local law enforcement officer, was on the scene of the MCI and said the event was “amazing.” He celebrated the Drama department saying, “ I don’t think this would be possible if they hadn’t fully committed and done such an amazing job.
Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Chief Doug Hutchinson attended the event as an observer and thought the event went “really well” noting students had “fun and learned something.” He noticed the dedication of all involved and commended Wildcats for taking their roles seriously.
