SCCM and Surgeon General Unveil New Disaster Course

Peter B. Angood, MD, FCCM

U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, joined the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) as it proudly debuted its new ground-breaking education program, the Hospital Mass-Casualty Disaster Management (HDM) course. The pilot HDM course was unveiled April 26 and 27 in Austin, Texas, offering healthcare providers skills in managing mass casualties that may overwhelm a hospital.

As SCCM continues to expand its educational programs, it was exciting to see the HDM course highlighted in the national spotlight and to discuss the future of this course.
The surgeon general expressed his enthusiasm for the new HDM course, saying it compliments his agenda as he ensures local communities across the country are prepared to handle disasters. In the wake of natural events or conventional explosions, non-critical care healthcare professionals may face situations that call for critical care. The HDM course focuses on the inpatient setting to improve hospital preparedness and response for higher likelihood disasters such as these. The opportunity to learn more about augmenting hospital inpatient capacity, specifically critical care capacity, will help better prepare all hospital staff to provide the best care possible.

About 50 students, observers and special guests attended the HDM course debut, organized by SCCM, the Texas A&M University System and the Texas Department of State Health Services. Special guests included Dr. Paul K. Carlton Jr., director of homeland security at the Texas A&M University System; and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Vice President Joseph Cappiello. Representatives from the American Medical Association (AMA) and the National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLSF) also attended.

Dr. Carlton provided an introduction before the course, saying that “America is in danger” and that the “need for HDM courses continues to grow.” As the value of these trainings gains further recognition, SCCM will work to bring HDM courses across the United States border. The Society already teaches FCCM courses in six languages in 30 countries, and hopes are high that HDM courses will follow in that direction. The Society is dedicated to training healthcare professionals across all fields and disciplines in multicultural environments. The introduction of the HDM course is a huge step in the right direction.

The two-day HDM course will be a welcome addition to the critical care education courses already offered through SCCM - Fundamentals of Disaster Management (FDM) and Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS). Non-critical care healthcare professionals who complete the HDM course learn the basic elements of hospital preparedness and response, including pre-event planning and preparedness, communication, incident management, management of limited resources, and rational modification of medical standards to provide the best chance of saving the most lives. Course participants learn basic principles for the care of seriously ill people exposed to infectious agents, chemicals and radioactive materials as well as how to protect themselves during such situations. The HDM course also includes a sequence of lectures interspersed with skill stations.

Because the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a major resource for medical equipment that will be used to augment critical care capacity following a large-scale disaster, the course teaches students how to use the mechanical ventilators maintained by the SNS. Dr. Nicki Pesik, deputy science team medical officer for the CDC, described how this aspect of the course fits in with the future goals of the CDC. “Collaboration with the Society on hands-on training focused on SNS program ventilators is a primary future initiative for the CDC,” Pesik said. The HDM course was jointly taught by Richard Branson, MS, RRT, FCCM; Christopher Farmer, MD, FCCM; James Geiling, MD, Edgar Jimenez, MD, FCCM; Nicki Pesik, MD; Lewis Rubinson, MD, PhD; and Daniel Talmor, MD, MPH.

The next HDM course will be held September 23 and 24 in Bismarck, North Dakota. For more information on the SCCM HDM course or the FCCS and FDM courses, please contact rhernandez@sccm.org