Leading, Learning and Collaborating through Simulated Crisis Management

For over 20 years, the Grade 12 Outdoor Education class has participated in a Crisis Management Simulation, which incorporates communication and collaboration in a hands-on learning experience. This year, the crisis simulation involved five people who were in the woods on a camp out when trees fell, leaving them injured and stranded (including realistic make-up and acting from our student volunteers).

Prior to the simulation, students reflected on their personal strengths and leadership qualities to identify which role they would be best suited in their groups. This then allowed them to explore and develop those abilities in an authentic and hands-on experience while learning and applying wilderness first aid skills. Groups worked in the woods to find and assess “injured” students and relayed their findings to a central command centre, where the provision of supplies and rescue teams were prioritized and distributed. 

The crisis scenario challenges students to problem solve and communicate effectively in a situation that generates the real stress of assisting injured persons. This activity also acts as a springboard into classroom lessons on human anatomy. The practical and interpersonal lessons learned from the Crisis Management Simulation are ones that students will take with them beyond LCS and the experience is one they will not soon forget.