Dickey was one of many who volunteered to bear fake wounds Wednesday for a culmination exercise performed by more than 25 law enforcement officers from 10 districts including the city of Lansing, Ingham County and Clinton County.

In a combined effort from the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Ingham County Sheriff’s Office and Trauma Training FX, or T2FX, officers were trained in the most functional ways to save victims in tactical situations Monday and Tuesday and put their knowledge to the test during a final training scenario Wednesday.

T2FX CEO Fred Kolberg, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL Special Forces Medic, said the company works to instruct officers on how to control the three ways a person can die in less than three minutes: major bleeding, obstructed airways and pressure buildup in the chest area.

“We saw a need for training at police officers’ units with the increase in the number of law enforcement officers’ deaths,” Kolberg said, adding between 2010-11, the amount of officer deaths across the United States doubled.

Kolberg said the company gives the officers in training the worst possible scenarios to prepare them for any situation — pyrotechnics included. The remote-operated improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, gave off a bang, a fireball and a puff of smoke to simulate a real-life emergency.

“You get the sound, which brings the realism and the real-world stressor,” he said.

The other “victims” in the emergency scenario bore fake bullet wounds, dislocated eyes, lacerations, burns and amputated appendages.

“It looks like Halloween, only it looks better,” said Kristin Vischer, T2FX public relations director.
Aside from the numerous ambulances and police cars, Vischer said the scene also included a helicopter during the first run-through of the day, but it was called to respond to a real situation.

Dickey said the victims were briefed on what their symptoms were, so when the medics came over and asked what was wrong, they could accurately describe what they felt. As someone who recently graduated with a criminal justice degree, Dickey said the experience will help her in the future.

“This is something helping the medics, which is something I can take away, as well in my later life when I become a police officer,” she said.

After the final scenario was complete, Kolberg said the experience of teaching law enforcement officers, 95 percent of whom had zero medical background, and watching them care for realistic wounds was “absolutely phenomenal.”

“You can see the transformation these guys went through and (their) confidence leaving this classroom,” he said.