Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:04:56.762Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The South Dakota Model: Health Care Professions Student Disaster Preparedness and Deployment Training

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2017

Matt P. Owens*
Affiliation:
University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Vermillion, South Dakota
Cheri Buffington
Affiliation:
Yankton Rural Area Health Education Center, Yankton, South Dakota
Michael P. Frost
Affiliation:
University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Vermillion, South Dakota
Randall J. Waldner
Affiliation:
University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Vermillion, South Dakota
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Matt Owens, MD, Community Memorial Hospital, Redfield, SD 57469 (email: [email protected])

Abstract

Objective

The Association of American Medical Colleges recommended an increase in medical education for public health emergencies, bioterrorism, and weapons of mass destruction in 2003. The University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (USD SSOM) implemented a 1-day training event to provide disaster preparedness training and deployment organization for health professions students called Disaster Training Day (DTD).

Methods

Hospital staff and emergency medical services personnel provided the lecture portion of DTD using Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS; National Disaster Life Support Foundation) as the framework. Pre-test and post-test analyses were presented to the students. Small group activities covered leadership, anaphylaxis, mass fatality, points of dispensing deployment training, psychological first aid, triage, and personal protective equipment. Students were given the option to sign up for statewide deployment through the South Dakota Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers (SERV SD). DTD data and student satisfaction surveys from 2009 to 2016 were reviewed.

Results

Since 2004, DTD has provided disaster preparedness training to 2246 students across 13 health professions. Significant improvement was shown on CDLS post-test performance with a t-score of −14.24 and a resulting P value of <0.00001. Students showed high levels of satisfaction on a 5-level Likert scale with overall training, small group sessions, and perceived self-competency relating to disaster response. SERV SD registration increased in 2015, and 77.5% of the participants registered in 2016.

Conclusion

DTD at the USD SSOM provides for an effective 1-day disaster training course for health professions students. Resources from around the state were coordinated to provide training, liability coverage, and deployment organization for hundreds of students representing multiple health professions. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:735–740)

Type
Original Research
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Katz, A, Staiti, A, McKenzie, K. Preparing for the unknown, responding to the known: Communities and public health preparedness. Health Affairs. 2006;25(4):946-957. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.25.4.946 Google Scholar
2. South Dakota Department of Public Safety (SD DPS). Firefighter age demographics study 2016. http://dps.sd.gov/emergency_services/state_fire_marshal/images/age_of_firefighters_2016.pdf. Published July 1, 2016. Accessed January 20, 2017.Google Scholar
3. South Dakota Legislature. SD Legislative Session 2016 - Bill history - Senate bill 27. http://sdlegislature.gov/Legislative_Session/Bills/Bill.aspx?Session=2016&Bill=SB%202. Published February 29, 2017. Accessed January 20, 2017.Google Scholar
4. South Dakota Department of Health. South Dakota Health Profession Shortage Areas – Primary Medical Care website. https://doh.sd.gov/documents/Providers/RuralHealth/HPSA.pdf. Published January 2017. Accessed February 1, 2017.Google Scholar
5. Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Training future physicians about weapons of mass destruction: Report of the expert panel on bioterrorism education for medical students. https://members.aamc.org/eweb/upload/Training%20Future%20Physicians%20About%20Weapons.pdf. Published 2003. Accessed January 20, 2017.Google Scholar
6. Parrish, A, Oliver, S, Jenkins, D, et al. A short medical school course on responding to bioterrorism and other disasters. Acad Med. 2005;80:820-823.Google Scholar
7. Scott, LA, Swartzentruber, DA, Davis, CA, et al. Competency in chaos: lifesaving performance of care providers utilizing a competency-based, multi-actor emergency preparedness training curriculum. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(4):322-333. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X13000368 Google Scholar
8. Walsh, L, Subbarao, I, Gebbie, K, et al. Core competencies for disaster medicine and public health. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2012;6:44-52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. South Dakota Department of Health. SERV SD (STATEWIDE EMERGENCY REGISTRY OF VOLUNTEERS) website. http://doh.sd.gov/providers/Preparedness/Volunteer.aspx. Published 2012. Accessed January 20, 2017.Google Scholar
10. Pollard, KA, Bachmann, DJ, Greer, M, et al. Development of a disaster preparedness curriculum for medical students: a pilot study of incorporating local events into training opportunities. Am J Disaster Med. 2015;10(1):51-59. doi: 10.5055/ajdm.2015.0188 Google Scholar
11. Jasper, E, Berg, K, Reid, M, et al. Disaster preparedness: what training do our interns receive during medical school? Am J Med Qual. 2013;28(5):407-413. doi: 10.1177/1062860612471843 Google Scholar
12. South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Codified Laws website. http://www.sdlegislature.gov/statutes/Codified_Laws/. Published 2009. Accessed January 20, 2017.Google Scholar