Abstract
The two-part project was primarily focused on expanding disaster management and emergency preparedness learning experiences in our nursing courses by partnering with our local community agencies.
To diversify our student experience and work within our local community we established a mutually beneficial partnership to create an opportunity to expose students to emergency management and disaster preparedness. We asked the local County Medical Reserve Corporation Coordinator to partner with us to offer their eight required training courses which would allow interested sophomore students to become MRC members. The national MRC organization developed the MRC Core Competencies as a guide for training local MRC volunteers (https://www.naccho.org/uploads/downloadable-resources/2019-MRC-Core-Competencies-and-Training-Plan.pdf). The courses chosen by the local unit were taught on campus and covered the topics of: MRC general orientation, family and personal preparedness, psychological first aid, POD operations, Incident Command System (ICS-100), Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive weapons (CBRNE) awareness, and disaster awareness. There were 20-25 sophomore students each year who participated and are now trained volunteers. Holding the program during fall semester of the sophomore year gave students the opportunity to continue through their senior year, which was three full years, most students who stayed locally remained as local volunteers, while others transferred closer to where they obtained their first job.
The second activity encompassed all levels of nursing students. Working with the local emergency preparedness experts and the instructional designer/simulation expert, the college and the local Township Health Department, designed and implemented a 4- hour disaster preparedness/emergency incident simulation that promoted understanding of mobilizing the community to impact a population affected by a disaster. This large-scale simulated event held with over 100 people combined an emphasis on social determinants of health, mobilizing community resources, care coordination, teamwork, establishing an effective chain of command, and allocation of limited resources during an emergency situation. Participants included nursing students, faculty, community members, current MRC members, police and fire, and many more.
Notes
References:
Castrucci, B., & Lupi, M. V. (2020) When we need them most, the number of public health workers continues to decline. https://debeaumont.org/news/2020/when-we-need-them-most-the-number-of-public-health-workers-continues-to-decline
Joi, P. (2020). 5 reasons why pandemics like COVID-19 are becoming more likely.
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/5-reasons-why-pandemics-like-covid-19-are-becoming-more-likely .
Haileamlak A. (2022). Pandemics Will be More Frequent. Ethiopian journal of health sciences, 32(2), 228. https://doi.org/10.4314/ejhs.v32i2.1
International Council of Nurses. (2019). Core competencies in disaster nursing version 2.0.
Sigma Membership
Delta Nu
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Public and Community Health, Academic-clinical Partnership, Interprofessional Initiatives, Disaster Management, Emergency Preparedness, Nursing Education
Recommended Citation
Hooven, Katie, "Opportunities in Emergency Preparedness through Community Partnerships" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 18.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/18
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Opportunities in Emergency Preparedness through Community Partnerships
Seattle, Washington, USA
The two-part project was primarily focused on expanding disaster management and emergency preparedness learning experiences in our nursing courses by partnering with our local community agencies.
To diversify our student experience and work within our local community we established a mutually beneficial partnership to create an opportunity to expose students to emergency management and disaster preparedness. We asked the local County Medical Reserve Corporation Coordinator to partner with us to offer their eight required training courses which would allow interested sophomore students to become MRC members. The national MRC organization developed the MRC Core Competencies as a guide for training local MRC volunteers (https://www.naccho.org/uploads/downloadable-resources/2019-MRC-Core-Competencies-and-Training-Plan.pdf). The courses chosen by the local unit were taught on campus and covered the topics of: MRC general orientation, family and personal preparedness, psychological first aid, POD operations, Incident Command System (ICS-100), Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive weapons (CBRNE) awareness, and disaster awareness. There were 20-25 sophomore students each year who participated and are now trained volunteers. Holding the program during fall semester of the sophomore year gave students the opportunity to continue through their senior year, which was three full years, most students who stayed locally remained as local volunteers, while others transferred closer to where they obtained their first job.
The second activity encompassed all levels of nursing students. Working with the local emergency preparedness experts and the instructional designer/simulation expert, the college and the local Township Health Department, designed and implemented a 4- hour disaster preparedness/emergency incident simulation that promoted understanding of mobilizing the community to impact a population affected by a disaster. This large-scale simulated event held with over 100 people combined an emphasis on social determinants of health, mobilizing community resources, care coordination, teamwork, establishing an effective chain of command, and allocation of limited resources during an emergency situation. Participants included nursing students, faculty, community members, current MRC members, police and fire, and many more.
Description
This project involved two activities. The first was training lower-level nursing students to be active members in the local Medical Reserve Corporation (MRC). The second was to run a community wide simulated event giving our students the opportunity to participate in emergency management. Participant feedback was gained through a standardized evaluation form, post survey questionnaire, as well as a structured debrief.