After completing this course you’ll be able to:
| 1. | Define a disaster and its consequences. |
| 2. | Describe different types of disasters and their classifications. |
| 3. | Discuss risk assessment, disaster preparedness and response before, during and after disasters. |
| 4. | Discuss the importance of information, communication, and preparedness to the health profession, other rescuers and the population. |
| 5. | Describe seven stages of disasters. |
| 6. | List two classifications of disasters and three levels of disasters. |
| 7. | Define triage, identify various systems for assigning priorities, and differentiate between three classifications of a patient’s condition: immediate, urgent, and nonurgent. |
| 8. | Describe nursing strategies at the disaster scene. |
| 9. | Explain the importance of treatment area management, protection of emergency responders, evacuation, and emotional support. |
| 10. | Describe preparedness and response before, during, and after a disaster. |
| 11. | List tasks or problems that is likely to occur in most disasters. |
| 12. | Indicate common causes of traumatic injuries after disasters and interventions. |
| 13. | Recognize assistance to victims - clean drinking water, safe food, shelter, and medical care of injuries. |
| 14. | Describe maintenance of people with special needs. |
| 15. | Discuss psychosocial concerns, ethical and cultural considerations. |
| 16. | Describe the importance of disease surveillance, investigation and control. |
| 17. | Describe safety management, list strategies to prevent and reduce the occurrence of trauma and describe recovery. |
| 18. | Recognize the significance of the "golden hour" and the "platinum 10 minutes" in trauma care. |
| 19. | Differentiate between level-I, level-II, and level-III trauma centers. |
| 20. | Describe management at the scene, and in the emergency room. |
| 21. | Describe triage at the scene, identification of the most seriously injured patients, assessment of injury, mechanism of injury and transport to trauma center. |
| 22. | Describe the methods (ABCDE plan) used in assessing and managing the care of injured patients. Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure; primary and secondary assessment strategies. |
| 23. | Describe assessment of the airway in an injured patient and recognize signs of airway obstruction. |
| 24. | List techniques for opening and securing the airway and differentiate among equipment used to open and secure the airway. |
| 25. | Identify various types of shock. |
| 26. | Describe the main causes and clinical signs of hypovolemic shock. |
| 27. | Discuss management of patient with hypovolemic shock. |
| 28. | Describe disability (neurologic status) and exposure (head-to-toe survey, environmentally related symptoms or conditions). |
| 29. | Relate signs and symptoms of trauma to the mechanism of injury. |
| 30. | Recognize signs and symptoms of thoracic injury. |
| 31. | Identify common types of thoracic injuries. |
| 32. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained thoracic injuries. |
| 33. | Differentiate among various thoracic injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 34. | Recognize signs and symptoms of abdominal and genitourinary injury. |
| 35. | Identify common types of abdominal injuries. |
| 36. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained abdominal injuries. |
| 37. | Differentiate among various abdominal and genitourinary injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 38. | Identify pelvic injury and describe assessment of patients who have sustained a pelvic injury. |
| 39. | Describe nursing interventions and injury management of patients with pelvic injury. |
| 40. | Recognize signs and symptoms of a head injury. |
| 41. | Identify common types of head injuries. |
| 42. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained head injuries. |
| 43. | Differentiate among various head injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 44. | Recognize signs and symptoms of maxillofacial and neck injuries. |
| 45. | Identify common maxillofacial and neck injuries and describe assessment of patients who have sustained these injuries. |
| 46. | Differentiate among head, ocular, maxillofacial and neck injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 47. | Recognize signs and symptoms of spinal cord injury. |
| 48. | Identify common types of spinal injuries. |
| 49. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained spinal injuries. |
| 50. | Differentiate among various spinal injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 51. | Recognize signs and symptoms of orthopedic injuries. |
| 52. | Identify common types of orthopedic injuries. |
| 53. | Recognize special concerns in meeting the challenge of limb preservation in patients with orthopedic injuries. |
| 54. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained orthopedic injuries. |
| 55. | Differentiate among various orthopedic injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 56. | Recognize signs and symptoms of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. |
| 57. | Describe prevention, assessment, and management of patients with heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. |
| 58. | Recognize special differences between adults and children when injured and normal physiologic parameters in infants and children. |
| 59. | Identify common injuries in infants and children. |
| 60. | Describe assessment of injuries in infants and children. |
| 61. | Differentiate among various injuries in infants and children and describe nursing interventions and management of them. |
| 62. | Discuss smaller sizes of emergency equipment and intraosseus infusion. |
| 63. | Describe the challenge of caring for injured and frightened children and for grieving, shocked or sometimes angry parents. |
| 64. | Describe postoperative care and intensive care for injured patients. |
| 65. | Describe monitoring, interventions and management of airway, breathing, and circulation in the intensive care unit. |
| 66. | Describe causes of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), compartment syndrome, and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). |
| 67. | Describe interventions such as mechanical ventilation, with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), fluid replacement, and the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). |
| 68. | Recognize signs and symptoms of penetrating injury (gunshot wounds). |
| 69. | Identify common shotgun, shrapnel, and blast injuries. |
| 70. | List four basic mechanisms of blast injuries. |
| 71. | Describe safety precautions, and the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained shotgun, shrapnel, and blast injuries. |
| 72. | Differentiate among various shotgun, shrapnel, and blast injuries in patients and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 73. | Explain the importance of securing evidence by careful handling and preservation of the patient’s clothing and personal property, and proper charting and documentation. |
| 74. | Define and describe different causes of hypothermia. |
| 75. | Recognize signs and symptoms of hypothermia, general cooling, and local cooling. |
| 76. | Identify common types of hypothermia and cold injuries. |
| 77. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained hypothermia and cold injuries. |
| 78. | Differentiate among various conditions of hypothermia and cold injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 79. | Describe different types of fire disasters and safety measures. |
| 80. | Identify major types of burns and inhalation injuries. |
| 81. | Recognize signs and symptoms of burns and inhalation injuries. |
| 82. | Estimate the percentage of body surface area damaged by a burn and compare partial-thickness and full-thickness burns. |
| 83. | Describe safety precautions, and the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained burns and inhalation injuries. |
| 84. | Differentiate among various burns and inhalation injuries and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 85. | Discuss special considerations in the burned infant and small children, the burned elderly, the risk of burn wound infection, and long-term treatment and rehabilitation. |
| 86. | Describe causes of biological emergencies and define epidemics, bioterrorism, and emerging infections. |
| 87. | Identify common epidemics during disaster situations, the mode of transmission, clinical characteristics, prevention, and available treatment or prophylaxis with vaccine or immunoglobulin. |
| 88. | Recognize bioterrorism as a real danger and recognize the signs, symptoms, and mode of transmission of high-risk biological agents. |
| 89. | Identify different types of emerging infections and their outbreaks, and the growing number of multidrug-resistant organisms. |
| 90. | Describe infection prevention, risk groups, control strategies, isolation precautions, personnel protective equipment, accurate information, reporting procedures, and surveillance. |
| 91. | Describe safety precautions, assessment and management of patients with biological emergencies. |
| 92. | Describe causes of chemical emergencies. |
| 93. | List types of hazardous chemicals. |
| 94. | Identify types of chemical agents most likely in an accidental release, or in act of terrorism or in warfare. |
| 95. | Recognize signs and symptoms of major chemical exposures. |
| 96. | Identify common chemical exposures. |
| 97. | Describe safety precautions, and the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained chemical exposures. |
| 98. | Differentiate among various chemical emergencies and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 99. | Discuss proper equipment and decontamination, flushing procedures and double bagging of contaminated clothes and other materials, assistance from a HAZMAT team. |
| 100. | Explain the different types and characteristics of ionizing radiation and possible scenarios of radiation incidents. |
| 101. | Discuss radiation exposures, contamination routes and recognize signs and symptoms associated with radiation emergencies. |
| 102. | Identify Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS), list three classic ARS syndromes and four stages of ARS. |
| 103. | Describe safety precautions, and the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained radiation injuries. |
| 104. | Describe protective clothing and methods to reduce exposure, radiation dosimeters, and survey with radiation meters. |
| 105. | Differentiate among various radiation exposures and describe nursing interventions and injury management of them. |
| 106. | Identify common reactions in the situation of multiple casualties or a disaster. |
| 107. | List the five stages of grieving that most persons go through when confronted with loss or potential loss. |
| 108. | Recognize concerns and needs of the rescuers of injured patients. |
| 109. | Discuss the characteristics of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). |
| 110. | Identify symptoms of PTSD. |
| 111. | Describe the elements of assessment for patients who have sustained psychological trauma and PTSD. |
| 112. | Describe nursing management of patients with psychological trauma and PTSD. |
| 113. | Discuss the role of military and civil defense assets, military nurses and their roles. |
| 114. | Define war and civil strife, and discuss problems of displaced people and the need of health care. |
| 115. | Describe emergency medicine for soldiers in combat and improvement of hardware and army emergency care. |
| 116. | Explain the basic principles of landmines and their cause of injuries. |
| 117. | Discuss acts of terrorism and the use of Weapon of Mass Destruction (chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear, and explosive weapons). |
| 118. | Identify competencies needed to recognize weapons of mass destruction and reporting procedures. |
| 119. | Describe professional and international organizations and nurse’s role in response to war, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and other major disasters. |
| 120. | Describe assessment and management of patients injured by terrorist bombings. |