10/01/2025
I promise I’m fine… but my makeup artist deserves an Oscar. 🎬✨
This morning, I got to be part of a mass-casualty simulation at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and it was a blast! When we checked in, they handed us “patient role cards” with vitals and injuries that had to be treated. Some people got off easy with scratches and bruises. Me? My card said BP 60/40, pulse 40, respirations 8, bleeding wounds, and unconscious. 🩸 Basically, I was in rough shape.
Then came moulage (aka horror-movie makeup). And wow… I looked fabulous in a bloody, glass-sticking-out-of-my-arm kind of way. 😜 The point wasn’t just shock value; it forced the medical staff to factor in what they saw as well as the “vitals.”
When the drill began, everyone jumped into character. Most patients had to stagger into the ER acting panicked, hysterical, and/or in a ton of pain. If you were “unconscious” (like me) or “dead,” you had to lay outside the ER entrance until medical staff reached you.
What amazed me most was how differently I was treated between drills, even though I was the exact same patient. In the smaller round (with 8 patients), I was assessed quickly, "stabilized" then I hey moved on to other patients but in all the chaos, a couple of my injuries were missed. In the bigger drill (with 30 patients), it was a whole different story: I was assessed, rushed to CT, and wheeled straight to surgery. They even took me up to the outside of the OR and walked through, step by step, what they would’ve done if this were real. Honestly, it was so cool to hear them work it out in real time.
The whole point of the drill was to create a realistic, high-intensity scenario where they were forced to make split-second calls in total chaos, just like they’d have to if something major ever happened here. It was a lot of fun!
Fun fact: the very first trip I ever took was by helicopter… straight to PCH. They literally saved my life. 💙 So if they ever need me to play the “bloody unconscious patient” again, I’m in. Full-circle moment.
