College nurses give attention to emergency preparedness

Unprecedented. The time period has change into an satirically widespread approach to describe many present occasions. Richmond County College Nurses have used the time period unprecedented to give attention to emergency preparedness. “As nurses, we’re conscious of what to do in most emergency conditions, however there is just one nurse in most of our faculties so it’s necessary not just for us to be as ready as attainable, however for us to arrange our first responder groups and different workers,” mentioned Leslie Corridor, Richmond County Colleges Lead Nurse.

The nurses not too long ago accomplished a Cease The Bleed refresher course lead by Firsthealth of the Carolinas Emergency Providers Coaching Officer and Director. The primary reason behind preventable loss of life after an damage is bleeding, which is why Cease The Bleed trainings give attention to packing wounds and making use of tourniquets. The refresher allowed the nursing crew to apply with tourniquet trainers and talk about triage conditions with native EMS.

Every college has acquired a totally stocked cell emergency medical cart. Colleges had variations of first support trauma provides previously however encountered points with mobility of the provides or conserving all faculties stocked with crucial emergency response supplies. “We frolicked reviewing suggestions on precedence first support provides for emergencies and stocked a package for every college with all the things from trauma dressings and gauze to band aids and eye rinse,” mentioned Corridor. “These carts will give us the flexibility to answer medical emergencies shortly which is so necessary in accidents the place time makes an enormous distinction.”

“College nursing is a lot extra now in 2023 than it was even 5 years in the past,” mentioned Wendy Kelly Jordan, director of scholar companies. “Our faculty nurses have weathered COVID-19, which created a posh and irritating college well being panorama. Extra not too long ago, we’re seeing elevated cardiac associated emergencies amongst our faculty age inhabitants throughout the area, state and nation. We wish to be ready to reply instantly and appropriately ought to now we have an emergency of any nature in our faculty district.”

A Cardiac Emergency Response Plan is the present initiative being applied by means of the well being crew. The statistics of a cardiac arrest occurring exterior the hospital are staggering, however CPR and entry to an AED can double and even triple a person’s probability of survival. All Richmond County Colleges buildings have at the very least one AED with extra within the center and excessive faculties.

“We’ve recognized a few targets together with making a crew of individuals ready to answer a cardiac occasion, including signage in our buildings to make certain everybody is aware of the place to search out an AED, and training AED drills very like we do fireplace drills,” mentioned Nurse Corridor.