Emergency medical professionals from all over Louisiana converged in Shreveport for the SIM Wars competition, part of the 2026 Louisiana State EMS Conference and Expo. Held at the Shreveport Convention Center, the event featured ten teams of EMS personnel who faced a series of challenging simulations designed to test their medical knowledge, teamwork, and decision-making abilities.
Realistic Emergency Scenarios
The competition utilized props such as smoke machines, fake blood, and fire hoses to create immersive emergency scenes. These scenarios required participants to respond as they would in real-life situations, including a simulated childbirth emergency at a water park. David Janese of the Shreveport Fire Department, who organized the event, emphasized that SIM Wars provides EMS workers with an opportunity to hone their skills in a friendly competitive environment.
“It’s great. I’m happy they’re having a good time,” Janese said. “Competition shouldn’t be about ruthless, ‘I’m going to win.’ It should be about having a good time and expressing what they do every day, which is their passion.”
Challenging and Realistic
The competition featured two separate simulations: one focused on medical knowledge and the other on trauma response. Teams were evaluated using an industry-standard scoring rubric. Participants described the scenarios as both challenging and realistic. Scott Nation, a paramedic from East Baton Rouge Parish, noted the intensity of the competition, while Jax Nation, an EMT, highlighted the additional difficulty posed by environmental obstacles.
“It required us to work together a lot more because we had all those environmental factors,” Jax Nation said. “Being with the hose and trying to communicate got us really thinking about what we needed to prioritize.”
The event underscored the importance of continual training and professional development for EMS providers across Louisiana. Winners of the SIM Wars competition were scheduled to be announced on Friday.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
