GIG HARBOR, Wash. — A U.S. Army combat surgeon is helping the Peninsula School District’s medical staff learn how to respond to a mass casualty incident.
Dr. Quinton Hatch brought his expertise and his preferred lifesaving tool, tourniquets, to Gig Harbor’s Pioneer Elementary School on Monday morning.
“This has saved more lives on the battlefield than anything else,” Hatch said, holding a tourniquet up in front of a classroom full of school nurses and medical techs who work in Gig Harbor schools.
The 25 employees participated in drills simulating campus shootings, an explosion, and practiced moving patients up flights of stairs in stretchers in the event of an evacuation during a natural disaster.
The scenarios played out in the school's playground, which Hatch said added to the intensity.
"It's about getting a little bit comfortable being uncomfortable," said Hatch.
Hatch, who has children in the district, said he contacted the superintendent, offering to train the staff on how to treat serious wounds.
“We can’t prevent all accidents, all violence, so the more people who have these capabilities, the better off we’re going to be in society,” said Hatch.
“We are training for preparedness,” said Peninsula School District Superintendent Krestin Bahr. “We need to be prepared for anything, right? An earthquake, and all trauma in schools, so we are very, very fortunate.”
Hatch said he would like to make tourniquet training incorporated into high school health classes and said all school nurses across the country should receive the training.
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