Nescot students provide special effects makeup for simulated disaster

Nescot students were part of a major emergency services training exercise in Ewell this week (February 20), as they supported trainee paramedics on a simulated disaster.

Students on the college’s Level 3 Hair and Media Makeup qualification created realistic-looking injuries on the ‘patients’ to be treated by emergency workers after a mock nightclub explosion.

The drill was a training and assessment exercise for final-year Paramedic Science students at St George’s, University of London, who worked in crews to triage and treat the ‘patients’.

The simulation, which was run over three days, gave Nescot students the chance to plan, apply and perfect injuries ranging from an open fracture to cuts, bruises and burns.

“The students have really enjoyed being part of the exercise, and they’ve learnt a lot,” said Frankie Perren, Curriculum and Standards Coordinator for Hair and Media Makeup.

“As well as developing their techniques and application methods they’ve also been able to show their core work skills, such as behaving professionally, working together, planning, and time management.”

The students took part in a workshop at Nescot before half-term, in which they were given a brief by organisers about the scenario for the training exercise.

They researched types of injuries in detail, and experimented and practised with products including wax, latex and coffee grounds to make sure they felt confident with techniques and timescales.

The project will count towards the students’ work experience hours, which help them to apply learning from college in a real-life working environment.

Student Abbie Taylor is planning to continue into university-level study next year, and wants to work in film or television makeup. She said the project was useful experience for planning her career.

“We were encouraged to treat the creative brief as a job, and to research, plan and practice,” she said. “We also had to be really disciplined with our timing, so that our ‘patient’ was ready when needed.”

The trainee paramedics were supported by professionals from London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade, and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, to help students get experience in multi-agency working.

The exercise was planned by Sarah Wood, a senior lecturer in Paramedic Science at St George’s Centre for Allied Health. She praised the Nescot students for their contribution to the task.

“This is a difficult exercise for our trainee paramedics,” she said. “They have a lot of patients over a large area, so this is testing their clinical triage skills, their leadership, communication and decision-making, as well as exposing them to multi-agency working as part of a major incident.

“The Nescot students have worked professionally and followed their briefs well, and the realistic injuries they created have really helped our trainees by setting the scene for them.”

Nescot’s students previously took part in a top-secret emergency services training exercise, in which police, paramedics and firefighters travelled to Ministry of Defence land for a simulated terrorist attack.

Nescot offers Hair and Media Makeup qualifications at Level 2 and Level 3, as well as full-time and part-time courses in Beauty and Hairdressing.