Practicing for the unthinkable
Disaster Day victim Abby Armand opens her mouth to be examined by third-year dental student Nicholas Hein while he practices forensic dentistry in the morgue area.
Many people don’t think about it, but dentists are among those to respond when disasters happen. Texas A&M College of Dentistry dental students received a crash course in disaster preparedness Feb. 27 when they participated in the 18th annual Disaster Day.
Organized by Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Disaster Day is the nation’s largest student-led, interprofessional emergency response simulation. More than 600 students from across Texas A&M Health took part in the exercise in College Station, where they practiced their emergency response skills.
“We simulated a terrorist attack involving botulism poisoning and an explosion,” said Nicholas Hein, a dental student and one of the event’s student organizers. “We worked with students from the medical, pharmacy, nursing, and veterinary schools (and others) and treated victims who either had minimal issues or severe, life-threatening injuries.”
Third-year dental student Sadra Mirmohammadi reviews dental records while practicing forensic dentistry in the morgue area.
Disaster City® is a 52-acre mock city that simulates real disasters and serves as a training facility for emergency responders at Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. Event participants engaged in triage at the disaster site, patient care at mock field hospitals, mental health care and needs assessment at an evacuation shelter, and disaster management and simulation oversight.
Third- and fourth-year dental students treated patients for mouth and jaw injuries and identified the dead by their dental records.
“The experience strengthened our appreciation for collaborative care and the critical role each profession plays during emergencies,” said Alex Feldman, another student dentist and event organizer.
Dental student Amber Dreyer was a co-chair of the clinical case subcommittee of Student Planning Committee.
In addition to Hein, Feldman and Dreyer, dental students who participated include Huzefa Hashim, Sadra Mirmohammadi, Breanna Hervey, Sidney Simmons, Lauren Vincent and Kristopher Peter. The students worked closely with Drs. Shirley Lewis, clinical associate professor in comprehensive dentistry, and Robert Beatty, clinical assistant professor in comprehensive dentistry, who co-chaired the event; the event is part of an elective course taught by Lewis and Beatty and allows third- and fourth-year students to review simulated cases.
Lewis is a forensic odontologist.
–Photos by Steven Crow of Texas A&M University College of Dentistry.
–Additional reporting by Laura Tolentino of Texas A&M Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health).