Iona University Nursing Students Practice Emergency Response Training

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. — Iona University nursing students collaborated with the Eastchester Fire District – which provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the Town of Eastchester and Villages of Tuckahoe and Bronxville – to participate in a simulated fire exercise on March 9. Designed to provide nursing students with multi-agency mass casualty training, over 25 members of the Eastchester Fire Department and Eastchester Volunteer Ambulance Corps took part in the scenario, simulating a building fire that featured nursing faculty and students playing victims with life-threatening injuries.

“Having the opportunity to use what we learn in the classroom in a real-world scenario was a valuable experience,” Leslie Torres ’23 said. “This is something that none of us have experienced before, so it was great to learn firsthand what to expect in a level one trauma.”

The exercise took place on Iona’s new Bronxville campus and included fire alarms, smoke machines that produced non-toxic smoke, and other tools to make the exercise feel as real as possible. Nursing students worked quickly to provide medical assistance to those in need, evaluating the severity of the injuries of each victim.

“We were thrilled to partner with Iona University to help train our engine and ladder rescue members, while also expanding our knowledge and skills as we teamed up with Iona’s nursing department,” Eastchester Fire Chief Brian Tween said. “Any training is good training, and being able to take it a step further right in our community will help us all prepare for future emergencies.”

Iona’s nursing students take classes at the new Kelly Center for Health Sciences in Bronxville, serving as the flagship building of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences.

Established in July 2021 and supported by a $20 million gift, the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences offers a new vision for collaborative education, modern workforce development and community care. NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently ranked one of the nation’s top hospitals and is also a leader in medical education in collaboration with two renowned medical schools: Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.