A MCI, or  “Mock Casualty Incident,” is an annual event at the University of New England (UNE). UNE’s students in the College of Osteopathic Medicine and other medical professionals get to practice in situations where time is an essential factor. 

Each year, the participants in the event base the MCI on something that has happened in the recent year that has impacted the community. They’ve done events ranging from a car crash to a stampede at a nightclub, a building collapse, and this year, a shooting. 

UNE’s event participants wanted to honor those who died in the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, last October. Students from various medical careers, such as nursing, physician assistant studies, pharmacy, dental medicine, and other health professions, came to participate as providers. 

Before the MCI, students and faculty met to prepare for what they were about to face and discuss the tragedy in Lewiston. They heard from speakers who personally witnessed last year’s tragedy and got training on how to give care to their patients. 

“Prior to the event, there were sessions you could go to where they showed how to treat things like burns, and I thought that was really beneficial for more than just the EMTs and medical personnel there. I also thought it was beneficial to know how a medical professional approaches the situation based on the evaluations they go through,” said Lisett Anderson, a patient actor at the event.

Timothy Counihan, M.D., Central Maine Medical Center’s chief surgeon, was one of the many who came to speak to students. Counihan told the group about what it was like to be a medical professional working hands-on with patients who were affected by the shooting last fall. 

Counihan spoke with more than 60 medical students from UNE to tell them his story of what it was like to be a doctor during this devastating event. After that session, it was time to hold the event. 

On Saturday, September 28th, all of the participants met in Leonard Hall on UNE’s Biddeford Campus. They pre-briefed before heading out to care for “patients” scattered across the campus. 

There were moulage actors in places ranging from the soccer field to outside of ACHS. During the eight-hour event, which ran from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the medical students assessed and cared for each “injured person” who participated in the MCI. 

They could be trained and taught by LifeFlight, Maine’s only air ambulance service, while also practicing hands-on critical care. This event is a significant learning experience for students, where they get to see in real-time the situations they could be in during their future careers. 

Not only was this practice for our future medical leaders, but it was also a way to honor the lives we lost during the tragic Lewiston shooting last year.

“I think they had a great presentation on the Lewiston shooting and how the medical professionals went about assessing the event,” said Anderson.