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Competency in Chaos: Lifesaving Performance of Care Providers Utilizing a Competency-Based, Multi-Actor Emergency Preparedness Training Curriculum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2013

Lancer A. Scott ,
Derrick A. Swartzentruber ,
Christopher Ashby Davis ,
P. Tim Maddux ,
Jennifer Schnellman  and
Amy E. Wahlquist
Lancer A. Scott*
Affiliation:
Emergency Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina USA
Derrick A. Swartzentruber
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina USA
Christopher Ashby Davis
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina USA
P. Tim Maddux
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina USA
Jennifer Schnellman
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcomes Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina USA
Amy E. Wahlquist
Affiliation:
Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina USA
*
Correspondence: Lancer A. Scott, MD, FACEP Division of Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Medical University of South Carolina MSC 300 115 MUH 169 Ashley Ave. Charleston, SC 29425 USA E-mail scottlan@musc.edu
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Abstract

Objective

Providing comprehensive emergency preparedness training (EPT) to care providers is important to the future success of disaster operations in the US. Few EPT programs possess both competency-driven goals and metrics to measure performance during a multi-patient simulated disaster.

Methods

A 1-day (8-hour) EPT course for care providers was developed to enhance provider knowledge, skill, and comfort necessary to save lives during a simulated disaster. Nine learning objectives, 18 competencies, and 34 performance objectives were developed. During the 2-year demonstration of the curriculum, 24 fourth-year medical students and 17 Veterans Hospital Administration (VHA) providers were recruited and volunteered to take the course (two did not fully complete the research materials). An online pre-test, two post-tests, course assessment, didactic and small group content, and a 6-minute clinical casualty scenario were developed. During the scenario, trainees working in teams were confronted with three human simulators and 10 actor patients simultaneously. Unless appropriate performance objectives were met, the simulators “died” and the team was exposed to “anthrax.” After the scenario, team members participated in a facilitator-led debriefing using digital video and then repeated the scenario.

Results

Trainees (N = 39) included 24 (62%) medical students; seven (18%) physicians; seven (18%) nurses; and one (3%) emergency manager. Forty-seven percent of the VHA providers reported greater than 16 annual hours of disaster training, while 15 (63%) of the medical students reported no annual disaster training. The mean (SD) score for the pre-test was 12.3 (3.8), or 51% correct, and after the training, the mean (SD) score was 18.5 (2.2), or 77% (P < .01). The overall rating for the course was 96 out of 100. Trainee self-assessment of “Overall Skill” increased from 63.3 out of 100 to 83.4 out of 100 and “Overall Knowledge” increased from 49.3 out of 100 to 78.7 out of 100 (P < .01). Of the 34 performance objectives during the disaster scenario, 23 were completed by at least half of the teams during their first attempt. All teams except one (8 of 9) could resuscitate two simulators and all teams (9 of 9) helped prevent anthrax exposure during their second scenario attempt.

Conclusions

The 1-day EPT course for novice and experienced care providers recreated a multi-actor clinical disaster and enhanced provider knowledge, comfort level, and EPT skill. A larger-scale study, or multi-center trial, is needed to further study the impact of this curriculum and its potential to protect provider and patient lives.

ScottLA, SwartzentruberD, DavisCA, MadduxPT, SchnellmanJ, WahlquistAE. Competency in Chaos: Lifesaving Performance of Care Providers Utilizing a Competency-Based, Multi-Actor Emergency Preparedness Training Curriculum. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(4):1-12.

Keywords

clinical disastercompetency-based trainingmass casualtycare providersimulation
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 322 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2013 

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