Disasters, Disasters, OH my!

As if the past 18 months haven’t brought enough disasters for us to respond to, let's bring in more, right? Well, kind of! How about simulated disasters instead? There is no better way to prepare for catastrophic events than to participate and practice in educational scenario-based training environments. Over the past two weeks, NSPA's Training Center offered two such courses through the National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLSF); Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) and Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS).

Students from across the region learned principles of disaster management relating to both natural and man-made disasters, alike. Participants were able to put into practice some of the concepts, principles, and best practices as they worked through various skill stations and scenarios in a safe, no-fault environment. At NSPA, we love bringing together partners from multiple disciplines to be cross-trained in a variety of response techniques. BDLS is a lecture-based course educating individuals on how to prepare, detect, and respond to disaster scenarios.  It’s also the prerequisite course to attend the ADLS course.  The advanced course provides participants the opportunity for very interactive, hands-on experiential learning, all leading up to responding to a simulated “mock” disaster.  Here’s what a few recent participants had to say:

"The Basic and Advanced Disaster Life Support courses brought to us by NSPA were both educational and motivational. They have thoroughly energized members of our agency to continue to train and practice our disaster preparedness protocols and systems. I'm certain that every student that took the courses left with a wealth of knowledge from all of the lectures, tabletops, and scenarios. It was not death-by-powerpoint, but rather realistic experiences and hands-on practice that helped each individual put things into perspective. We fully plan to incorporate everything we learned into our annual training agenda, and I for one cannot wait to coordinate for more courses to come down from NSPA."

Charlotte Newman | Training Captain & QA Co-Chair 
Danville Area Training Center

“Awesome class!  The instructors are very informative.  Lots of interaction and hands on. The practical exercises are very realistic and they will push you to your limits. I would recommend this class to anyone in EMS.”

Tommy Barber |Battalion Chief of Training
Danville Life Saving Crew

Feel like you’ve missed your opportunity to get in on all of the fun? Don't worry, our Training Center offers a variety of courses year-round! Check out our Calendar or subscribe to our Weekly Situational Brief.   We look forward to seeing you at a future course offering!