ESU’s Nursing Department Schedules Specialized Training for Community Health Care Professionals, Police And First Responders on Jan. 30-31

Posted by: admin on January 31, 2014, No Comments

The Nursing Department at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is expecting 85 individuals from the ESU campus and local communities to participate in a disaster training event today and Friday, January 31, in the Keystone Room from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. This unique group, comprised of university students and faculty as well as health care providers, public health professionals, police and first responders from the local community, will work together to be trained to properly perform patient triage, decontamination, treatment and transportation so they are fully prepared in any disaster situation, including exposure to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive (CBNRE) weapons.

The course, offered by Texas Engineering Extension Services in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, consists of facilitated discussions, small group exercises, hands-on activities and task-oriented, practical applications. Participants will use both state-of-the-art adult and pediatric human patient simulators to promote critical thinking skills while utilizing the RAPID–Care concept. Upon course completion, participants will be able to demonstrate the skills necessary for proper detection and monitoring, triage, mass decontamination, treatment, stabilization, self-protection and cross-contamination prevention.

Lori Pierangeli, Ph.D., ESU associate professor of nursing, attended a similar training session last year and learned FEMA provides money to the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC), which delivers these comprehensive courses and workshops and are led by U.S. Department of Homeland Security experts. The federally funded program allows universities to host the training without applying for grant money.

Interdisciplinary education is a current trend in the healthcare professions. This training event will provide attendees with skills in emergency preparedness and allow them to understand the role of each professional involved to better meet the needs of the local and regional community.

Pierangeli said this training session was important for her students in the nursing department and for community members who work in health care as well.

“The TEEX training is a wonderful opportunity to have experts who have actually participated in disasters in the field provide this training to not only our students, but also to an interdisciplinary group of health care providers in our local and regional area,” Pierangeli said. “Interdisciplinary education is a current trend in the healthcare professions. This training event will provide attendees with skills in emergency preparedness and allow them to understand the role of each professional involved to better meet the needs of the local and regional community. Not only are we meeting nursing competencies, but we are also providing the opportunity to help meet national health goals in this small way.”

Additional information about this type of training is available by contacting Pierangeli at 570-422-3564 or by visiting the Texas Engineering Extension Services website at www.teex.org/nerrtc.