Who we are

Casualties Union is the Charity whose volunteers spare time to train and practise casualty simulation. Many of us are first aiders, and some are medical professionals. We share the conviction that rescuefirst aid and medical training is improved by having casualties and patients who look and behave as realistically as possible.

What we do

 

Our official charity aim is: “To advance for the public benefit education and training in first aid, medical and allied disciplines by the provision or realistic, simulated patients or casualties.” 

We create the illusion of illness or injury by makeup, from a faint to a heart attack, or from a splinter to a protruding broken bone. We study how the victim would behave, acting with appropriate posture, facial expression and speech. We respond to how we are treated by providing vital feedback both during the scenarios or role-play and in any debrief session afterwards.

Read an interview with one of our volunteers

This article appeared in Still Life entitled 

Simulated Injury in Preparation for Disaster

Interested in joining?

Our Units welcome new members. Their training meetings introduce them to our techniques and develop the skills of the more experienced members. We are asked to attend a variety of duties and exercises such as paramedic and fire service training, major traffic incident exercises, first aid competitions, hospital emergency training, airport exercises and urban search and rescue training.

Practical Considerations

No previous knowledge is required as you will receive training on acting, makeup and staging at your local unit, though it helps if you are skilful with your hands, and have done some acting or first aid. As a volunteer, you’re entitled to receive reimbursement of expenses for the duties you attend. You may be asked to walk onto a site or lie on the ground, so a reasonable level of mobility is useful. Some duties that we attend are in the outdoors and may require you to act as a casualty in wet or cold weather.

Watch how we do it…

Some of our Clients