The Emergency Medical Services that serve Winneshiek County, which includes the fire and police departments, EMTs, and emergency room staff, held a disaster simulation this spring. The emergency exercise event involved a crash scene at a county fair with an animal disease outbreak.  

Steve Vanden Brink, the Decorah Fire Department Public Education Officer and Manager of Ambulance Services at Winneshiek Medical Center reached out to Luther College nursing students to be volunteer victims of the disaster. Students triaged at the scene and then transported via ambulance to the hospital for further treatment.

Student diagnoses included a nearly severed leg, unconsciousness, chest pain and shortness of breath, lacerations, and multiple open bone fractures.