Saturday's (December 15) Moulage Mayhem class took fourteen attendees through a comprehensive look at the art of moulage, or applying makeup and prosthetics to simulate injuries. Moulage is an important skill set for emergency responders because the more realistic injuries are in training, the more effective the training is. 

Trainer Laurel Sprague is the owner of Moulage Mayhem, her moulage business. Her business tagline says it all: Keeping It Real for Real Responders. She emphasized injury realism throughout the four-hour class at the Bainbridge Island Senior Center showing, for example, how to use contact lenses to make realistic blisters or how to fashion liquid latex into a laceration.

Sprague led Saturday's participants through her detailed Power Point, reviewing the contents of a complete moulage kit, where to buy the items, and how to operate in a sanitary manner. Sprague was a stickler for hygiene and told many stories about people not being careful and the resulting infections and ruined prosthetics. She also offered practical advice for keeping down costs associated with moulage kits.

Then the participants got two hours to practice, giving each other  amputations, lacerations, contusions, and burns. The participants also enjoyed a raffle of moulage kit items.

Sprague is well-known to local emergency responders, as her business provides moulage for many training events.

Photos by Christina Aitchison, Clint Pells, and Sarah Lane.