Students deal with simulated Godzilla attack

Student paramedics and nurses have dealt with multiple simulated casualties during a "Godzilla attack" on the streets of Bournemouth.

The major incident training was for the benefit of Bournemouth University (BU) students, and similar to a previous fictional scenario centring around a zombie infestation.

Arts University Bournemouth makeup students conjured up realistic injuries with special effect makeup, and second-year BU paramedic students acted as casualties.

"Even if the blow-up doll version of Godzilla used on the day didn't quite match the ferocious nature of the character, the makeup and actors involved to recreate the chronic injuries made up for it," BU said.

The operation took place at an underground car park at The Old Fire Station, on Landsdowne Campus.

Simulated injuries included burns, lacerations and severed limbs.

Paramedic, nursing and mental health nursing students were deployed in the training exercise, designed to test teamwork and the "ability to apply learning in a realistic, high-pressured environment".

The car park was divided into a paramedic response area, physiotherapy treatment spaces, and nursing stations.

Volunteers from Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance, and University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust were on hand to offer students advice as patients were assessed and stabilised.

Ben Abbott, advanced practitioner in critical care at Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance, said: "The first-year students are very junior and new to this - we are looking for them to be able to do basic triage and patient assessment and they all did really well once they got over the nerves.

"The third-year students are looking to qualify in the next six to nine months so it's a different vibe with them.

"They are expected to know more about the medicine, the drugs, the therapy and the treatment that they can offer.

"They were very good - it's a stressful situation but it does push them to do the job that they are going to need to do at some point."

Adam Bancroft, senior lecturer in paramedic science, said staff were "creating challenging environments for students to go through the fundamental processes of dealing with critically unwell people".

"We can ramp the pressure up or down depending on the learning objectives, ensuring students get the most valuable experience possible," he added.

Godzilla, a giant reptilian sea monster with atomic breath and a tendency to devastate cities, was first introduced in Ishiro Honda's film of the same name in 1954.