CORNING, N.Y. (WENY) -- Corning Community College Nursing students took part in a mass casualty event drill to simulate using their skills in a high-intensity hospital situation. The drill consisted of responding to injured persons and administering care based on the severity of injury.

A driver becomes incapacitated at the wheel of a moving vehicle -- and plows through a gathering of people. Dozens now suffer from injuries ranging from minor burns to broken bones -- and a team of medical personnel must move quickly to ensure survival for the injured. That was the scenario that CCC Nursing students had to navigate in today's drill.

"These students have been here for two years and are graduating in May, so they are learning how to put all of the skills and all of the critical thinking they have learned and apply that to these patients that they need to take care of," said Lisa Palumbo, a CCC Nursing faculty member.

Students had to quickly administer care to those affected, and fellow CCC students served as stand-ins for the injured while instructors and members of emergency management served to evaluate their response. The knowledge learned is incredibly valuable to the students as they prepare to bring their skills to the real world.

"It helps the community; it helps us as soon-to-be nurses and it just prepares us to the best of our ability. We have people here who aren't in the program that are learning and we're learning, and I think it's just going to make me a better nurse at the end of the day," said sophomore nursing student Marissa Adams.

"I feel more prepared in the event that does happen now. Just triaging patients, making sure your assessments are correct and taking care of your patients to the best of your ability," added sophomore nursing student Taylor Champluvier.

Understanding and preparing for mass casualty events is necessary across all avenues of emergency response. As emergency management describes it -- we don't want these events to happen -- but they can happen, nonetheless.

"The more we prepare our first responders and our hospital staff for an incident like this, it's much easier for us in the field to know how the hospital's going to react and the capabilities of our facilities," remarked Steuben County Director of Public Safety Tim Marshall.