Central Ohio's Regional Response to the Largest Botulism Outbreak in 30 Years
Jodi Keller, Kara Cover, Angela Snider, Martha L. Buckley, Medard R. Lutmerding
2017
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
Study/Objective: As part of a multi-year hospital resiliencebuilding program at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center (JFKMC) in Monrovia, Liberia, the purpose of this program was to introduce the Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) mass-casualty protocol to clinical employees and health professions students, in order to increase individual provider readiness to respond to disaster events. Background: Individual provider resilience and clinical readiness is a key component of overall
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... resilience during a disaster or crisis event. The primary objective of this component of the hospital resilience program was to provide clinicians and health professions students the opportunity to learn the START triage system, and practice making high-consequence triage decisions under stressful conditions. Methods: Training was coordinated with relevant medical and nursing departments and student learners in the facility to ensure maximum participation. Powerpoint slides featured Standard Liberian English phrases when appropriate, and the authors produced a skills video using Liberian clinicians and actors speaking Liberian English. The 30 minute didactic training was followed by serial skill practice stations, in which participants had the opportunity to serve as rescuers/triagers. Instructors assigned to each station monitored the practice sessions and provide just-in-time feedback following every skill repetition. Results: Over 150 learners participated in the course. Based on feedback from participants and hospital administration, the training was successfully adapted. The START video was widely praised during and after the training. A major limitation was that students had widely variable basic life support clinical skills. Future implementations of this program should include a basic life support course. Future instances of training also will provide an opportunity to test recall knowledge of previously trained personnel. Conclusion: The START training program can be successfully adapted for West African audiences, and can serve as an important component of overall hospital resilience-building efforts.
doi:10.1017/s1049023x17001467
fatcat:fatnux7dcnckjcl4fcndjw2ezy