'It's pretty intense': Conemaugh doctors pick up lessons during emergency rescue training session

May 10—One doctor clutching the jaws of life peeled away a car roof and another donned a protective suit preparing to handle hazardous materials. It happened Thursday at the Johnstown Fire Department Training Grounds on Oak Street, in Johnstown.

More than 20 Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center resident physicians experienced first-hand what first responders do.

The lessons were welcome, said David Gnugnoli, emergency room physician. The program is in its 15th year.

"It's great," Gnugnoli said. "I remember when I was a resident, we always looked forward to doing this."

Johnstown firefighters guided students through simulated emergency rescue scenarios.

The emergency scenarios included using the jaws of life at the car crash, a rescue from inside a building and handling deadly materials.

In the building was a mock-up of a confined-space rescue using a mannequin.

"They have to go in and do some medical treatment to the mannequin and get it out," Johnstown fire Chief Robert Statler said. "At the other station, we're doing Hazmat. We put them in Hazmat suits and they have to go down and test a liquid and come back."

Third-year resident Ellen Schneider welcomed the on-scene experience.

"We learned what they do in the field," she said. "As a physician, it's important because you need to have some background about the situation."

For second-year resident Andres Onetto, cutting into a car at a makeshift crash using the jaws of life was challenging.

"It's pretty intense," he said. "It can be a little daunting on the body. There is a lot of pieces that you have to pull apart to get to the patient."

Physicians not only treat patients in the emergency room, they sometimes treat patients at the scene, said Michael Galuska, program director of emergency medicine.

"For instance, if there's a bad trauma where that patient has a prolonged extraction and a physician is needed in the field, sometimes they get called," he said.

Patrick Buchnowski is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5061. Follow him on Twitter @PatBuchnowskiTD.