University of New England students got emergency medical training during a mock mass casualty event on campus Saturday.
Dr. Timothy Counihan, Central Maine Medical Center's chief surgeon, told students about October 25, 2023, when a gunman killed 18 people and wounded 13 others in a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston.
“I was lucky," Counihan said. "We had a lot of military experience floating around. It was helpful, not so much for the technical skills, but just the mentality that 'It’s gonna get bad. We’re just going to lean into it and get through it.'”
Counihan told UNE students pursuing healthcare professions that they will likely encounter a mass casualty event, a shooting, or a natural disaster during their careers.
” I think given the nature of our society...between climate change and our gun culture... I think we really should be focusing on this,” Counihan said.
This was the university’s fourth mock mass-casualty event and was organized by the UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine and the UNE student chapter of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine.
With the one-year anniversary of the Lewiston shootings approaching, students wanted to focus on lessons learned the day of Maine's largest mass shooting in history.
“I thought it was very impactful as someone who was not here during that time in Maine, hearing more of the details of the shooting," said Asiak Etuka, a first year DO student from Connecticut. “It was eye opening, hearing about the triage, deciding who to treat first, and about all the people who responded that day. I value that insight. I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful for this day.”
The eight-hour event also featured triage training, mock casualty events using actors, and a LifeFlight of Maine air ambulance crew.