An example of how moulage can impact the effectiveness of your training.

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The scene is a bar where there has just been a shooting.   Police officers enter the area; find several intoxicated patrons and a man lying on the ground with blood oozing onto the ground.

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Stop the action here:

1.      How do the officers handle the scene? 

2.      Do they tend to the guy on the ground first?

3.      Do they see the brain matter on the floor?

4.      Do they secure the witnesses?

5.      Do they see the gun lying on the floor? 

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How they respond is the purpose of this training scenario.  These are not officers, yet.  These are cadets, training to become Police Officers.   What brings this training scenario to the next level is the addition of Moulage.  Moulage is the art of injury simulation whose purpose is to add realism to training scenarios that cadets may encounter as officers. It is essential for the cadets to be exposed to visual stimuli to validate their experience in training as it will relate to the street.  Having to deal with major injuries like visible blood, arterial spray, and compound fractures, or subtle injuries such as  bruises, and strangulation marks all will test how the first responders manage a situation better than if they come across a victim who has a sticky note taped to his leg. 

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The detective responsible for the addition of moulage to the cadet training program said the following:

 

"Moulage has traditionally been used for training in the Military and Emergency Service environments, adding it to Law Enforcement just made sense."

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 "The homicide was the most graphic of the scenes with a subject made up to appear to have a gunshot wound to the head. I observed multiple cadets working through this problem that arrived on scene, took one look at the actor with the moulage and began to treat the scene with all the seriousness that the scene demanded. This has a layered benefit to the cadets in their training. The cadets were exposed to the gore and violence of a homicide scene, giving them a basic inoculation to a level of violence that many of them had not witnessed before. This controlled experience gives a new officer a chance to process the event and then continue with the event as they are trained, rather than being overwhelmed in a real world event. "