Sign of the times - the story of Partnership Blue Light

In March 2018, 80 student nurses from the School of Care Sciences at the University of South Wales joined forces with personnel from a range of other emergency services to deal with the aftermath of a fictional road accident. 

The event, codenamed ‘Partnership Blue Light’, was designed to give those on the front line an understanding of what can happen on any given day, based on a real-life scenario with multiple casualties.

That scenario involved an accident in which a stolen car, travelling along an A road at 60 miles per hour, loses control and collides with a minibus. Besides responding to the accident, those taking part had to manage the nearby Dewi Sant Hospital – in reality a clinical simulation suite at the University’s Glantaff Campus – filled with ‘patients’ undergoing treatment. 

To add to the drama, the ‘hospital’ was also scheduled to close its services the following week before moving to a new facility 10 miles away, resulting in a reduction in its capacity and capability. 

The event – which also involved probationary officers from Gwent Police, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service personnel, specialist paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team and a team from St John Cymru-Wales – proved to be such a success that it has now been shortlisted in the Partnership of the Year category at this year’s Student Nursing Times Awards.

“The whole exercise was designed to give everyone involved an understanding of the challenges and stresses involved in dealing with a major incident,” says organiser Caroline Whittaker, academic manager at the University’s Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, as well as being a senior lecturer in occupational health. 

“USW has a commitment to external collaboration and to providing immersive learning opportunities, and the simulation exercise provided the opportunity to develop skills in triage, assessment and extended clinical practice.”