LANA DOUGLAS - ldouglas@newsobserver.com
Jada Lynch, 15, remains in character as she waits for the medical team to remove the 4-inch rebar from her stomach. She was portraying a victim of a nuclear attack.
DURHAM -- Jada Lynch lay quietly in the hospital bed as she waited for someone to come remove the 4-inch piece of rebar sticking out of herbelly.
As medical teams rushed around tending to other patients' burns and broken bones, the 15-year-old remained calm and in character.
Lynch, a student at the City of Medicine Academy, was playing a victim of a nuclear attack during Operation Blue Thunder. The training exercise let members of the State Medical Assistance Team practice working in a mass-casualty situation, said Larry Tucker, regional emergency response and recovery coordinator.
In Thursday's drill, a nuclear device was detonated in Washington, knocking out power; rupturing water, gas and sewer lines; and leaving thousands dead or injured.
Almost 300 people, including 52 SMAT members, participated in the scenario, which forced quick decision making with limited resources.
About 150 medical and physician assistant students from Duke University treated patients. About 90 students from the City of Medicine Academy, a Durham magnet school, played the part of the patients.
"It's just fun, and I get to see how it's going to be if I go into the medical field," Lynch said as she got her wound attached to her abdomen with a clip-on belt.
SMAT members set up the six-tent field hospital the day before the simulated attack, an operation that takes about 80 people six hours. Some members even slept in nearby tents to mimic a real disaster situation.
In addition to preparing medical students, Operation Blue Thunder helps SMAT members prepare for deployment. SMAT personnel come from eight counties in the region.
For City of Medicine Academy students, some of whom have completed medical internships and worked on clinical trials, the drill was a good way to see if disaster medicine is something they would like to pursue, principal Elizabeth Shearer said.
