Rural Physician Action Plan stages accident simulation in Pincher Creek

T. Lucas photo

Toni Lucas - Media surrounded the ruined car a half block from the Pincher Creek Hospital on Saturday morning  May 25, snapping pictures of locals made up to be bleeding accident victims.

RCMP Pincher Creek Detachment Constable Olivier Richer directs
traffic away from accident scene

Thespian/victim Erica East
C. Davis and T. Lucas photos

The accident was a simulation, and the hideously wounded victims were local senior drama students from St. Michael's School and local EMS volunteer Nichole Stuart who was helping coach the victims in their roles. The simulation was staged to coincide with the arrival of 74 visitors including 55 medical professionals in training along with 19 of their spouses who were participating in a Rural Physician Action Plan (RPAP) tour of our rural area.

They watched as local Emergency Services swung into action.

Ryan Higgenbotham and Emilie Charette

Erica East played the role of the driver of the wrecked car, unconscious with simulated head wounds and embedded glass, and her front passenger was EMS worker Nichole Stuart.  Stuart played a panicked pregnant victim that had started labour due to the trauma of the accident.  In the back seat Emilie Charette suffered from head wounds and embedded glass, and Ryan Higginbotham appeared to have head injuries and a probable broken arm.

With calm efficiency EMS teams extricated the four victims.  "We are looking at an exercise on emergency response from a motor vehicle collision," said Pincher Creek Fire Chief David Cox.  "We'll do the assessment and the triage, the extrication,  and then the patients will go to the hospital and go through the different work stations inside.  I believe STARS is going to set a triage up, because they have a critical incident station."

Rural Physician Action Plan (RPAP) Communications Coordinator Cait Wills said the students came from various learning institutions.  "This is a group of students from the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, Mount Royal's Faculty of Nursing, and the University of Alberta's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, Physical Therapy Students from Augustana Campus.  We are at the Pincher Creek Hospital doing skill stations."

"We have about four (Rural Skills Station) Exercises a year, and we try to space it out between southern Alberta and northern Alberta. What we've done for the first time today at Pincher Creek Skills Session is we've invited spouses to attend. It is so important that they be part of the decision making process on whether or not to practice in a rural area."

CTV's Brendan Miller

The simulation was a surprise for the visiting medical students and their spouses.  In talking to a few of them at the scene it became obvious that they had not expected to witness an accident scene.  One woman admitted that she "may have heard whispers about it" but she did not expect it to be so realistic.  A few of the medical students were even singled out to be interviewed by the press, a situation that rural doctors occasionally face.  "I'm usually not allowed so close," joked CTV Calgary videographer Brendan Miller as he shot closeups of the "victims".

Once the victims were assessed, extracted and taken away by ambulance, the medical students followed them to the nearby Pincher Creek Hospital.  "I'm one of the organizers.  It's a multi-disciplinary rural medical exposure day," said local Doctor Gavin Parker.  "They are going to participate in a brief pre-hospital skills demonstration, have lunch at the hospital, then we're going to do some hands-on skills with the students."  The students and spouses were divided into different groups that toured through the facility where they visited various stations where the victims being treated. After that the medical students had some hands-on training.

Gavin and Jennifer Parker

The spouses were taken out for lunch and a tour of Pincher Creek with Dr. Parker's wife Jennifer.   To learn more about rural life, the tour was scheduled to visit a local ranch the following day.

At Harvest Coffee House

"We know that the health professionals will have a rewarding and fulfilling career in small town, Alberta," Jennifer Parker explained.  "But if the spouses don't think there are any opportunities for them, they won't be supportive of their spouse being in a small town.  I'm here to let them know that life is good in a small town.  There's lots of opportunities for professionals,  for children, for anybody, really.  And it's beautiful.  For us, Pincher Creek has so much to offer, it was an easy decision for us."

Jeff Brockmann

According to Pincher Creek Associate Clinic Executive Director Jeff Brockmann  "We expect to expose this group, who is relatively young in medical studies, to what they could experience in a typical day in rural Alberta."

"This is a staged scenario, but it is typical.  You could see this on a weekday, or a weekend, or midnight," continued Brockmann.  "We want to work together."

Brockmann said he was appreciative of all the staff and agencies that came together to help make the day possible.  He mentioned EMS, Fire and Rescue, and St. Michael's Drama Club as all being integral to the success of the day. He enthused that this was the first of these exercises that included spouses on the trip.  "We want to show them what this community is like, to introduce them to some non-medical professionals who live and work in Pincher Creek and the area."

According to information taken from a Government of Canada statistical website "Physicians are not evenly distributed throughout Canada.  This “unevenness” is particularly serious in rural and remote areas.  The problem also appears to be worsening:  in 1991, 14.9% of Canada’s physicians practised in rural areas; by 1996, this number had dropped to 9.8%.  Perhaps more important, this decline in rural physicians has occurred at a greater rate than the decline in Canada’s rural population.  Furthermore, according to projections, the ratio of physicians per 1,000 population in rural areas is expected to decrease from 0.79 in 1999 to 0.53 by 2021."

Jasmine and Matt Roberts with daughter Simone

The stories about why these students chose the medical field for a career and why they and their families are considering a rural lifestyle would take pages to write.  One such story is that of Matt and Jasmine Roberts who came with their three month old daughter Simone.  Matt is a medical student at the University of Calgary, and both expressed that they would like their family to be raised in a rural setting and lifestyle.  "It's were we want to be, rather than a bustling city.  Thank you to everybody that came out today.  This took so many volunteers and people helping to make this possible.  We are very grateful to be able to see it."

Related links/sources:
Rural Physician Action Plan
Rural Canada: Access to Healthcare