Knowing that making your in-service training as real as possible, Halloween is the best time to go shopping! (Even better on November 1st when everything goes on sale!) when people don’t work in aquatics, they don’t look at the Halloween stores with all the fake blood and scary body parts with the same excitement as those of us who do!

What is moulage?

Moulage is the art of applying mock injuries for the purpose of training emergency response teams (i.e., your front line team). Moulage may be as simple as applying pre-made rubber or latex “wounds” or as complex as using makeup and theatre techniques to provide elements of realism (such as blood, open fractures, etc.…) to the training simulation. If you haven’t integrated moulage into your in-service training, this is the perfect time to stock up on supplies and introduce it to your team!

Your Moulage Shopping List

Here are some easy items to pick up to make your in-service scenarios more realistic and exciting for your staff:

Fake Blood – Fake blood is always a good idea! The only thing you have to pay attention to is that fake blood can stain surfaces, clothing, or skin! Be sure to wear clothes that you don’t mind throwing away and put down a towel or tarp.

If you would like to make your own fake blood, you can do it with corn syrup, red poster paint (or face paint), and cocoa powder. This seems to be a simple, washable recipe! Whatever the amount of blood you would like to make is the amount of corn syrup you will use. From there, add little bits of paint and cocoa powder depending on how you would like the blood to look. It is straightforward to make and can even look very realistic!

Fake Flesh – This super inexpensive (and super icky) product is easier to work with than liquid latex and washes off with soap and water. You can make your wound into any shape you would like. This can also be used with other products to enhance the look of other wounds and fake limbs.

Severed Fingers – Using a set of realistic-looking fingers will have a bigger impact than using a carrot in their place! Plus, this set has one of each finger represented in its pack! Another random severed body part kit can be found here for more variety.

Broken Bone Kit –  This type of kit, along with some fake blood, can look convincing and push your team to react in a more realistic scenario better. As we prep our teams for any situation, a broken bone could happen anywhere, aquatic or not. Plus, since items like this are latex, they can be used over and over again.

Need a compound fracture for your kit? Try this one!

Puncture Wound – How many times have you told your staff to remove or not to remove an item from a puncture wound? Well, this will let you know if they know how to handle the situation.

Tooth Wax – Whether it is a chipped tooth or a missing tooth, using tooth wax can really add a surprise and urgency to your training.  If you need more fake teeth, just cut down a vampire fang or a werewolf tooth!

Using realistic situations will only better the quality of your team’s performance if they should ever be put into an emergency situation, this we know. We also need to remember that if training is kept fresh and interesting, the more likely your staff will pay attention during the scenarios, retain the information presented, and get excited to attend their in-services throughout the year!