VIDEO: Preparing for the worst was the goal for paramedics in training with Life EMS Ambulance on Wednesday afternoon.
GLC Live at 20 Monroe, a downtown Grand Rapids concert venue, was turned into the site of a simulated mass casualty incident.
“At Life EMS Ambulance, we put these on twice a year for all of our new paramedics in training before they go out on the road and they’re on their own,” Patrick Cooney-Davis, a field training coordinator, said.
Organizers mocked up a scenario in which a firework malfunction at the venue injured several people. The “victims” were portrayed by actors who work at Life EMS. Staff from the venue participated, too. Five paramedic trainees practiced how they would handle the situation.