Students covered in fake blood, burns help first responders in realistic training exercise

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Monday night, several local agencies are practicing their skills at University of Southern Indiana by responding to a fake mass casualty incident.

In years’ past, agencies have responded to a pretend overturned bus, a terrorist attack and hikers falling off a cliff.

This year, dozens of high school students helped stage the tragic results of a bonfire gone wrong.

At the drill, onlookers could see blood, gaping wounds and third-degree burns applied with costume makeup.

“The scenario is a bunch of high school kids having a bonfire,” says Health Science Institute Health Coordinator Rachel Heck. “It’s summertime. It’s been raining so the fire didn’t catch as quickly as they wanted to, so they thought, ‘Hey let’s pour gasoline on it.”

The pretend cuts and bruises