Media Advisory - Centennial College students and area professionals prepare for a 'real bad day'
TORONTO, March 1, 2017 /CNW/ - On Thursday, March 2, Centennial College's Morningside Campus will be transformed into a small community that will have a "real bad day" in a realistic disaster simulation that tests first responders.
More than 300 students will play their professional roles in staffing mock police, fire and paramedic stations, a long-term care facility, social services office and a hospital under a severe weather scenario that ends in a tornado and blackout. Some 200 actual doctors, nurses, first responders and other professionals will also be on hand to play roles and mentor students as they deal with mass casualties, wandering dementia patients, a building collapse and other crisis calls.
This event marks the 13th year that the School of Community and Health Studies has conducted a mock disaster to enhance their students' experiential learning, a core belief of Centennial College.
"We add something new every year," says Richard Kinchlea, Chair of Emergency Management and Public Safety. "We want to continuously include more students and career programs. In addition to a fully staffed emergency operations centre tasked to coordinate resources, we will have a 911 Call Centre to help make sense of an overwhelming situation."
Mock disasters, or emergency exercises, are regularly run by cities, agencies and businesses to evaluate their response to different emergency scenarios. At Centennial, students learn some of what they may expect to face in their careers should a disaster occur, and how to better prepare for critical decision-making.
"We try to provide the realistic environment of a disaster", Kinchlea says, "There is no smoke or car wrecks, but over a 100 'patients' are made up with various injuries and everyone knows the community of Morningside is at risk."
Media are invited to witness the simulation and speak with participants.
| Date: |
Thursday, March 2 |
| Time: |
9 am to noon (live exercise) |
| Location: |
Centennial College, Morningside Campus, Scarborough |
| 755 Morningside Avenue (at Ellesmere, 1 km south of Hwy 401) |
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| Webcast: |
SOURCE Centennial College
Media contact: Mark Toljagic, Communications Officer, Centennial College, 416-289-5000, ext. 7142 or 416-605-6012/[email protected]
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