SIMI VALLEY : Hospital’s Nurses Get a Crash Course in Accidents

Janice DeZotell was rescued from a crushed car and treated for a skull fracture Friday in the parking lot of Simi Valley Hospital. But minutes later she was back on her feet, smiling about her good fortune.

Unlike four other women who pretended to be patients during a hospital drill, DeZotell, a 36-year-old emergency room nurse, was supposed to be unconscious.

“I had the easy job,” she said. “I didn’t have to scream.”

The traffic accident drill, which also involved 10 firefighters and private ambulance crews, was set up to show emergency room nurses what happens at a crash scene before the patients are taken to the hospital.

Four intensive care nurses, who usually supervise paramedics by radio in the treatment of accident and heart attack victims, pretended to be injured passengers trapped in a damaged Ford Pinto. The fifth “victim” was a CAT scan technician who often works with trauma patients.

Another emergency room nurse, Arlene Alexander, played the part of the hysterical mother of one of the accident victims. She was pulled away from the damaged vehicle by Simi Valley Police Sgt. Andrew McCluskey, who also took part in the event.

Before the drill began, the nurses applied red makeup, resembling blood, to make their “injuries” look more authentic.

During the exercise, paramedics from Pruner Health Services began administering treatment through the car windows, while firefighters used a Jaws of Life and other power tools to rip off the car’s roof and force open the doors.

Firefighters covered the women with a blanket to protect them from flying glass and metal. The women were removed gently and strapped to wooden backboards, which is done to avoid aggravating spine injuries. They were placed on gurneys and wheeled to waiting ambulances.

Afterward, nurse Lenette Saez, 31, who portrayed a passenger with a broken leg, said she will now have a better understanding of how an accident victim feels during a rescue.

“It’s really scary,” she said. “There were all these noises going on. Metal was popping. There was all kinds of chaos inside.”

Nurse Tracy Valdez, 29, played an injured passenger who could not speak English when the rescue workers arrived. “It’s a very frightening situation,” she said.

Working carefully, the firefighters needed about 20 minutes to free all five women from the damaged car. One goal of the exercise was to show the emergency room nurses why it sometimes takes a long time to get accident victims to the hospital.

“They made it very real,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Jim Arledge said of the exercise. “It makes it a lot more fun knowing the people aren’t really hurt. But it’s excellent practice.”