A day of disaster response protocol training for university students.
Disaster Training Day, held on the University of South Dakota (USD) campus, is designed to prepare future healthcare professionals to assist their communities should a disaster strike. In the past ten years, over 3,800 students have received training, with 1700 plus becoming certified in Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS) from the National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLSF).
Six NDLSF certified instructors from South Dakota including Dr. Matthew Owens, Medical Director for the NDLSF Upper Midwest Training Center, present CDLS curriculum covering the essentials of disaster preparedness and how to perform effectively and safely in a disaster. Additional breakout sessions over the years have focused on anaphylaxis, emergency pediatric medicine, emergency response, injections, personal preparedness, psych first aid, points of dispensing (POD), “Stop the Bleed” and triage. University faculty, State Department of Health employees, physician leaders, Avera and Sanford nursing, Sioux Falls Public Health, and SF Fire and Rescue employees lead these sessions. Clay and Yankton County Emergency Management staff have also provided assistance using their Rapid Tag system for student registration.
Along with CDLS certification, students are given the opportunity to register with South Dakota Department of Heath’s Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers (SERV SD). This registry coordinates the pre-registration of medical and healthcare professionals who are willing to volunteer during disaster situations.
Disaster Training Day is designed to be an interprofessional event. Disciplines participating include pharmacy students from South Dakota State University along with the following disciplines from USD: clinical psychology, dental hygiene, health science, medical laboratory science, medicine, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Plans are being made to add a second event at Presentation College on April 17th of this year.