Disaster/Bioterrorism Training Program University of South Florida College of Nursing
To prepare the healthcare professionals to be able to respond to acts of bioterrorism or natural disasters and to provide them with the resources to assure public health safety and care, a comprehensive disaster and bioterrorism training program has been designed at the College of Nursing. The USF College of Nursing has an existing strong relationship with the chief nursing officers from a large percentage of the hospitals in the greater Tampa Bay area. In coordination with the Advisory Board a needs assessment survey of the current bioterrorism training was utilized to identify gaps in essential training. In our survey of 179 healthcare personnel, we asked about their training and knowledge in the management of a disaster involving mass casualties related to a natural event or terrorism. 47% (n=78) of the respondents felt that they did not have the necessary equipment to handle a biological attack related to terrorism. 45% (n=73) had the same opinion concerning a chemical attack. Only 31.7% (n = 52) of the surveyed personnel felt they had adequate training for biological events related to terrorism and only 34.5% felt that they had adequate training for chemical events. 91% of respondents recommended that all staff be offered training in disasters. 88% of the respondents indicated a desire for specific training in biological agents and events; 80% desired training in chemical agents and events; and 72% desired training for nuclear events. 69% perceived a need in training for mass casualty events and 78% wanted training in natural disasters. Based on the results from the Needs Assessment Survey, along with input from the Clinical Collaborative Advisory Board and our own experienced investigative staff, we have introduced a Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS®), Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS®) and a Core Disaster Life Support Course training course as a part of our program. These courses will involve both didactic and a hands-on application with highly technical medical simulation. Instructing nurses and other health care providers in the recognition of victims of a chemical and biological disaster is paramount. Advanced disaster life support training has been designed to reinforce the detection and proper treatment of conditions that may occur during disasters that we do not normally treat. Treatment of chemical, biological, and traumatic patients will be covered in this course. Please click on each course for more detailed information on that course: Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS) Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS) Advanced Cardiac Life Supprt (ACLS)	Frederick Slone, MD Program Director
Overview of Basic and Advanced Disaster Training Course The University of South Florida, College of Nursing is now a provider of the Basic & Advanced Disaster Life Support Training Courses. These courses were developed by a consortium of academic medical centers (Medical College of Georgia, University of Texas-Southwestern), medical societies (American Medical Association, American College of Emergency Physicians), and Government Agencies (Centers for Disease Control), Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support (BDLS and ADLS) are quickly becoming the de facto credential for health care providers in disaster medicine. The target audience for BDLS and ADLS is identical to that of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and includes physicians, nurse practioners, physician assitants, nurses, paramedics, and other providers. While BDLS provides didactic focus on the fundamentals of the all-hazards approach, ADLS offers hands-on application of those fundamentals, including rotations in Chemical Biological and Radioactive casualty simulations. A complete simulation of a disaster incidence, along with mock casualties, triage stations, decontamination station, and transfer and transport station will be performed as a part of this course. The Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS) Course is a four-hour didactic course whose target audience are non-medically trained or minimally medically trained personnel that will be involved in a disaster response. This includes administrators and planners, housekeeping and safety personnel, LPN's, medical assistants, law enforcement officials, and any other personnel that would be involved in a disaster response at any level.