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TRAINING

The Art of Casualty Simulation

by Jules Deschenes, OSt J, Chief Instructor-Trainer, Casualty Simulation

When it comes to emergency rescue and disaster training, the more authentic instructors can make a training session by creating realistic situations, the more effective the training. Casualty simulation-the art of making up a healthy person to look injured-is a prime example of how convincing and sometimes even gruesome simulations can add to the urgency and realism of such training.

Casualty simulation came to Canada from England in the late 1940s. Its original purpose was to prepare rescue personnel and members of the military to deal with injured disaster and combat victims by presenting them with realistically made up wounds. For rescue workers, casualty simulation enabled them to recognize and assess the wounds they might actually encounter. For the military, it also served as a form of battle inoculation.

Simulation of a badly burned hand.

Today the art of casualty simulation, and its use as a training aid in emergency care training programs and disaster exercises, has become very sophisticated. Well-trained casualty simulators can create shockingly realistic wounds ranging from first, second and third degree burns to open and closed fractures and arterial bleeding. They can also accurately simulate sucking chest wounds and amputations, as well as physical conditions that include shock, cyanosis, heart attacks and even death.

In Canada, the casualty simulation has become such an art and important element of emergency and disaster training, that there are courses available to become a certified casualty simulator. The Emergency Services Division of Health Canada is the national certifying agency for casualty simulation.

Facts about Casualty Simulation Certification

• In an actual simulation exercise, the victim's clothing would cover the remaining portion of arm that is supposed to have been severed.

  There are three levels of Casualty Simulation Certification-Basic, Instructor and Instructor-Trainer.
• Currently only the Basic Course is available to the general public.
• Kits, manuals and courses are available free of charge.
• Casualty Simulator Instructors must be remunerated for "out of pocket" expenses (e.g. food, fuel, lodging) when travelling out of town to teach a course.
• Instructors are available in all provinces and territories.
• Only Instructors and Instructor-Trainers can book and register courses, and obtain kits and manuals.
• Contact your provincial Emergency Measures representative to have a Basic Course taught in your area.
• A casualty simulation aide-memoire video is available for certified simulators from the Department of National Defence. For more information contact Master Warrant Officer E. Comeau at 613-945-6797 or by e-mail at Comeau.JE@Forces.ca

For more information on casualty simulation e-mail Jules Deschenes at: astropix@magma.ca

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