Development of a Disaster Management course for healthcare workers

1. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Development of a Disaster Management course for healthcare workers Dr. Indika Karunathilake Dr. Kremlin Wickramasinghe Dr. Asela Olupeliyawa Dr. Priyanga Ranasinghe Dr. Sashimali Wickramasinghe Dr. Himan Galappaththi Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

2. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Introduction-Why a course for disaster management Sri Lanka has faced many natural and man made disasters. Damage caused by the tsunami in 2004 could have been minimised if proper disaster preparedness had been in place

4. Tsunami 2004 26 December 2004 will be etched permanently in our memories. within a short period of 20 minutes; more than 30,000 people died thousands were injured almost a million displaced

5. Providing disaster relief-the role of the medical school We in the Faculty, like many of our countrymen mobilized assistance within a matter of hours of hearing of the tragedy. The Colombo Medical Faculty has initiated several programmes to aid and rehabilitate communities and areas affected by the Tsunami.

11. The need for a course in disaster management The need for healthcare workers trained in disaster management Social accountability of a University Expertise available in the faculty of Medicine Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka

12. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Course development process Identification of needs of the community Identification of exit outcomes Developing content area Deciding educational strategy Arranging the content Identification of teaching/learning methods Developing assessment system Creating educational environment Management of the course

13. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Identification of exit outcomes A stakeholder analysis was conducted to identify outcomes The identified stakeholders were; volunteer healthcare workers tsunami survivors government health officials government and non governmental organizations

14. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Identification of exit outcomes The volunteer healthcare workers were requested to list the competencies they should be equipped with when working in similar situations Tsunami survivors were interviewed to identify their expectations regarding the healthcare services Government health officials were interviewed to identify key areas of training for healthcare workers After triangulation of the data collected by both qualitative and quantitative method, exit outcomes were developed.

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17. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Exit outcomes of the course Identify roles and responsibilities in disaster management. Apply principles of disaster management. Design public health education and awareness programmes. Identify the role of the public health system in disaster management. Provide emergency and trauma care Leadership, teamwork and communication skills

18. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Exit outcomes of the course (cont…) Manage available resources. Establish basic health requirements Provide sustainable rehabilitation Develop and implement a disaster management plan. Manage medico-legal, psychological and ethical issues Personal and professional development

19. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Core Modules of the course Introduction to Disaster Management Concepts in Disaster Management The Role of Healthcare Workers in Disaster Management Creating Community Resilience Skills Necessary in Providing Emergency Care Management of Internally Displaced Persons Economic Recovery Medico-legal Aspects of Disaster Situations Special Situations Special Topics and Special Skills

20. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Overview of the Content Module 1 : Overview of Disaster Management global scenario and the current status in Sri Lanka Module 2 : Basic Concepts disaster management concepts, creating public awareness and working with the community Module 3 : Role of healthcare workers leadership, teamwork, problem prioritisation, resource and information management Module 4 : Creating Community Resilience control of communicable diseases, rehabilitation of the community and victims

21. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Module 5 : Skills in emergency care ABC of trauma care On field management of the critically injured Mass casualty incidents Pre-hospital and hospital organization

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23. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Module 6 : Internally Displaced Persons management of refugee camps, basic facilities secondary disease prevention and health promotion rehabilitation and livelihood restoration

24. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka IDP pic

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26. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Module 7 : Economic recovery conceptual framework, process of post-disaster economic recovery, livelihood development plans. Module 8 : Medico-legal aspects Victim identification, DNA, fingerprints

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28. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Module 9 : Special Situations war, gunshot injuries, bomb blasts, fire and floods.

29. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Module 10 : Special topics and special skills Counseling, communication with authorities, human rights, law and ethics While designing the modules, characteristics of Sri Lankan culture such as acceptance of traumatic situations based on religious beliefs, and supporting neighbors who are in need of help were considered.

30. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka A range of teaching/learning methods were introduced, including; Lectures small group discussions Workshops Field activities Practical sessions

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32. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Field visits and focused activities for application of theoretical knowledge were salient features The field visits included : visit to the emergency operations room of the DMC participation in a community evacuation drill a session on hospital disaster preparedness programme at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) a fire drill organised by the fire brigade Visits to IDP camps

33. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Assessments The outcomes, content, teaching/learning methods and assessment methods were aligned using a curriculum blue print. Both summative and formative assessments were included. Summative assessments included end of module assignments and practical examinations (OSPE) Formative assessments to provide feedback

34. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Future scope of the programme Successful participants will be further trained as members of rapid deployment teams in future disasters. They will participate as resource persons for future community training programmes. The University of Colombo plans to develop this programme up to diploma/masters level.

35. Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, Sri Lanka Conclusion A university, through its primary responsibility as a training provider, can play a major role in disaster management This is on par with the concept of the social accountability of universities An outcome-based approach provides the framework to develop a curriculum that caters to the needs of the community Even with limited funding, it is possible to implement such outcome-based programmes using existing physical and human resources