Interdisciplinary Seminar Series

Medical Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response

Offered:

• July 18^th, 2005 at 1:00pm
• September 19^th, 2005 at 1:00pm
• November 21^st, 2005 at 1:00pm

This seminar will be offered in three sessions. Students are required to participate in all 3 sessions for credit. The following are the three sessions of the seminar:

Session 1 - Principles of Communications and Incident Command System in Emergency/Disasters Events

Competencies covered by this section of the seminar:

1. DESCRIBE communication role(s) in emergency response:
   • Within the agency, using established communication systems
   • With the media
   • With the general public
   • Personal (with family, neighbors)
2. DEMONSTRATE the correct use of all communication equipment used for emergency communication (phone, fax, radio, internet, etc.)
3. DESCRIBE the chain of command in emergency response.
4. USE established communication systems for coordination among the response community during a terrorist event or another type of medical/public health emergency.

1. Recognizing unusual events that might indicate an emergency and describing appropriate action (e.g., communicate clearly within the chain of command).
2. The Incident Command System (ICS), integration into Unified Command, important principles.
3. Medical Response to Disasters: search and rescue, triage, isolation and containment, definitive medical care, use of protocols to manage disaster patients, mass patient care, etc.
4. Case studies and Practical Exercises.

• Lecture = 20 minutes
• Small group discussion of case studies and real world situations = 10
• Total group discussion = 10
• Break = 5 minutes

Competencies covered by this section of the seminar:

1. IDENTIFY the indicators, signs and symptoms for exposure to critical biological, chemical and radiological agents (BCR) (category A, B, C), blast injuries and trauma.
2. ESTABLISH a system of triage for victims of BCR agents/Blast/Traumatic events using incident specific triage guidelines.
3. COLLECT time patient-based and health care utilization data on critical BCR agents (Category A, B, C).
4. USE proper safety and personal protection procedures and equipment.

1. Characteristics of Biological (B), Chemical (C) and Radiological (R) Agents; epidemiology of classes of BCR agents, category A, B, C; recognizing symptoms and signs of exposure, use of protocols to handle exposure to NCR agents, etc.
2. Pharmaceutics and pharmaceuticals for treatment. Use of Vaccines.
3. Establishing a system of triage for the management of mass patient care. Field medical triage, using MASS and IDME procedures.
4. Decontamination: hazardous materials overview, protective equipment, site selection, necessary facilities and equipment, decontamination flow, stages of contamination, techniques and procedures.
5. Application of appropriate techniques for preserving possible evidence at an incident site or medical facility. Reporting the case to the public health system.
6. Case studies and Practical Exercises.

• Lecture = 20 minutes
• Small group discussion of case studies and real world situations = 10
• Total group discussion = 10
• Break = 5 minutes

Competencies covered by this section of the seminar:

1. PROVIDE medical and public health support as needed for victims and responders within the jurisdiction's response plan.
2. APPLY creative problem solving and flexible thinking to unusual resources within your functional responsibilities and EVALUATE effectiveness of all actions taken.
3. RECOGNIZE and TREAT the psychological impact of terrorist events on victims and health care professionals.

1. Identification of persons potentially exposed to a specific WMDs agent/or any other type of substance(s), who are in need of public health and/or medical intervention.
2. Collection of timely patient-based and health care utilization data on critical WMDs agents or any other substance that had created the disaster.
3. Planning and recovery strategies, routine and enhanced surveillance monitoring, the Rapid Needs Assessment (RAN), routine enhanced surveillance monitoring.
4. Characteristics of disasters that affect the mental health of the exposed and the rest of the population; epidemiologic research on psychological response to disasters/terrorism attacks.
5. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),
6. Roles of the medical practitioner in the mental health management of patients exposed to disasters or terrorist attacks.
7. Case studies and Practical Exercises.

• Lecture = 20 minutes
• Small group discussion of case studies and real world situations = 10
• Total group discussion = 10
• Break = 5 minutes
• Final Evaluation = 5 minutes

Agenda
Total time of seminar = 140 Minutes (Two sessions of 45 minutes and one session of 50 minutes) distributed in the following manner:

20 Minutes: Power Point Presentations in which students will have a copy of the lecture slides to follow the speaker while presenting. Additional reading materials will be available to students in a web page created for that purposes.

5 Minutes Break

10 Minutes: small groups discussions of real world case-studies situations. Students will be encouraged to develop their appropriate responses based on the knowledge received during the lecture.

10 Minutes: for total group discussion in which all groups will present their conclusions summarizing the major points of the seminar.

5 Minutes: Evaluation form at the end of seminar (during final session).