By Lilly Nguyen
Daily Pilot
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. 鈥� Zombies descended on Laguna Beach High School early Wednesday evening, leaving in their wake a number of festering wounds and injuries in the subsequent chaos.
Yes, you read that right: zombies.
Or, at least, young actors playing zombies from the high school鈥檚 theater career technical education pathway, as part of a larger simulation for students enrolled to become emergency medical technicians.
The simulation, planned since April, came about at the suggestion of career education coordinator Kellee Shearer, who said she鈥檇 done similar scenarios at another district.
鈥淭he prior events that I ran were a great collaboration between both CTE pathways and the local police and fire departments, " Shearer said in an email on Wednesday. 鈥淚t allowed our CTE EMT students to showcase their first responder skills, field triage and search and rescue; as well as our CTE theater students being able to highlight their makeup and costuming skills, in addition to using their acting skills in a nontraditional way, playing the role of victims.鈥�
Shearer said she pitched the idea to theater teacher Meghan Marshall and EMT teacher Eric Johnson. The three coordinated efforts to plan the zombie simulation as realistic as possible.
鈥淥ne of the most important things that we do with my class and anything in CTE is learning how it鈥檚 done in the real world. There鈥檚 a lot of theory into learning these days, but the application is one of the most important things that we practice, " Johnson said. 鈥淭his kind of hands-on training and showing them what they learned in the classroom and what that looks like in a controlled environment is important.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things that, until you do it with your hands, it sounds good on paper. Once you add in the additional components 鈥� realistic injury makeup, all the equipment you would use in a [mass casualty incident ], radio communications 鈥� all these complicating factors, you get to see where you excel and where we need to continue training. We do this kind of practice in the real world all the time.鈥�
Johnson said the idea to design the simulation came from an article about a fictitious plan written by junior military officers on how to respond in the event of an actual zombie apocalypse.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really done in a kind of tongue-in-cheek kind of way. What are the odds that that鈥檚 going to happen? Pretty much zero, but it鈥檚 something that would utilize all of the resources across a wide variety of agencies to prepare their own response, and because it鈥檚 so firmly rooted in science fiction, there鈥檚 no way people are going to end up terrified with the results, " Johnson said.
鈥淚t makes it more equitable, and that鈥檚 also the more fun aspect. These are high school students preparing to go do a very serious job, but it鈥檚 important to remember they鈥檙e still young adults, " he added, noting that his students were only somewhat aware of the situation they were going to walk into.
Marshall said the simulation included more than a dozen theater students acting as victims in the scenario with the assistance of special effects artist Laura Barrow. Marshall worked through backstories with some of her students as they devised realistic reasons to have been on campus after hours.
鈥淪ome of them developed relationships [in character ], and so certain ones are related to one another, and all we were given from the EMT class was their age, gender, heart rates and their injuries, " Marshall said. 鈥淪o, they took that and looked at 鈥楬ow did this person get this injury? Why were they here at the high school? Were they on their way to pick up someone from school ?鈥� They took it very seriously.鈥�
It was important, though, to set limits in the role, Marshall said.
Students and Marshall discussed safe words in the event that a student while acting severely injured, felt anxious in the moment and needed to take a step back or remove themselves from the simulation altogether.
鈥淚 think, with everything that鈥檚 happening right now in terms of TV shows and movies, the students are really into sci-fi. [Using a zombie scenario ] helps keep it lighthearted. It keeps it from being completely real, but the injuries are real enough that they can be taken seriously. It helps with a healthy barrier between getting too invested in a role, where it could actually be harmful to your mental health or well-being, " Marshall said.
Johnson said the program has had simulations before, though none on this scale of effort and coordination. It was Shearer, Marshall and Johnson鈥檚 hope to expand the activity to once a semester so students could see how their skills progress, though Marshall noted she hoped to make it a more teachable moment, similar to the two-day 鈥淓very 15 Minutes " program that encourages teens to think about the ramifications of drinking before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.
(c)2023 the Daily Pilot (Costa Mesa, Calif.)
Visit the Daily Pilot (Costa Mesa, Calif.) at www.dailypilot.com
Distributed by