Mayday: A Fake Disaster is Incredibly Real

Seventeen Saints recently survived a plane crash (not really), and the harrowing experience (which was actually a lot of fun) will make them all better nurses.

Here's the scenario: A passenger jet carrying 94 souls had its wing clipped by another aircraft on final approach into Albany International Airport and crashed. Seventeen senior nursing students in a Population and Public Health Nursing Perspectives course were on board the plane along with three nursing faculty. There were significant casualties. Ollie Piccolo '25 had a compound fracture to her right lower leg. Ollie's classmate, Adriana Dalo '25, suffered a deep gash to her left-upper arm.

"I had IV tubing taped onto my body," Dalo said. "The tubing was wrapped around my back and was attached to the wound in my left-upper arm. So whenever I would squeeze the IV bag, fake blood would come shooting out. This was one of the coolest experiences ever!"

The crash never actually happened, and the injured passengers were all perfectly healthy volunteers, but the lessons forged in simulated trauma are invaluable for the first responders as well as the Saints.

Every three years, the Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to host a mass-causality drill. Agencies respond to the "crash," and the amazingly life-like incident tests the community's preparedness for an actual crisis. As part of the exercise, various agencies are required to coordinate their responses and administer life-saving treatment in the crucible of mass-causality chaos. The Saints saw it all through the eyes of the victims.

"Since I am interested in pursuing pediatric nursing, more specifically intensive care, this exercise allowed me to experience what trauma victims go through before they are handed off to a nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU)," said Piccolo. "As for my injuries, the compound fracture felt strange but nothing compared to looking at myself in my phone's camera to see the realistic abrasions on my face. I was taken aback and surprised. Overall, the experience was surreal."

Disaster preparedness is an important topic covered in the Population and Public Health Nursing Perspectives course. Jeannine Kaskoun, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing, is a volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) of Albany and Rensselaer counties. As an MRC volunteer, she was aware of the triennial drill at the airport, and through the nursing program's partnership with the Rensselaer County Department of Health, they were able to get nursing students tickets for the doomed plane.

"Integrating experiential learning opportunities such as this mass-casualty drill allowed students to be part of the triage process and could witness important aspects of leadership, collaboration and communication among various agencies," said Kaskoun. "These experiences support student nurses as they move into their nursing career, to be better prepared to respond to such an event."

News10 ABC covered the drill, which lasted five hours. Be sure to check out Kaskoun's performance as a trapped victim on the plane (25 seconds into the clip)!