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Preparing for the Surge: A Half-Day Emergency Preparedness Training Course for the “Second Front”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2017

Lancer A. Scott ,
Layne A. Madden ,
Amy E. Wahlquist  and
Daniel W. Fisher
Lancer A. Scott*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina
Layne A. Madden
Affiliation:
Emergency Medicine Resident Physician, Emory University College of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
Amy E. Wahlquist
Affiliation:
Research Instructor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Daniel W. Fisher
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Lancer Scott, MD, Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 169 Ashley Avenue, Charleston, SC 29464 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Purpose

Clinical disaster medicine requires providers working collaboratively to care for multiple patients, yet many clinicians lack competency-based training. A 5-hour emergency preparedness training (EPT) curriculum was created using didactics, small group discussion, and scenario-based learning. The goal was to evaluate the effect of a short course on improving clinical-provider knowledge, confidence and skill.

Methods

Participants were enrolled in a medical university between 2011 and 2014. The course consisted of didactic lectures, small group exercises, and live mass-casualty training scenarios. Core competencies and performance objectives were developed by a task force and assessed via facilitator observation, pre- and posttesting, and a course evaluation.

Results

A total of 708 participants were trained, including 49.9% physicians, 31.9% medical students, 7.2% nurses, and 11% allied health personnel. The average percentage of correct answers increased from 39% to 60% (P<0.01). Following didactics, trainees met 73% and 96% of small group performance objectives. Trainees also met 68.5% and 61.1% of the mass-casualty performance objectives. Average trainee self-assessment of disaster-preparedness skill improved from 36 to 73 points out of 100.

Conclusion

A brief, intensive EPT course can improve the disaster knowledge and comfort level of a diverse group of clinical providers as well as foster disaster-performance skills. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:121–126)

Keywords

disastersemergency preparednessemergency managementdisaster medicinemedical education
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 2018 , pp. 121 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2017 

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