USD School of Health Sciences, Southeast South Dakota AHEC Host Disaster Response Training
Now in its 16th year, Disaster Training Day brought together students from nine health care disciplines, including medical doctorate, nursing, clinical psychology, dental hygiene, medical laboratory science, Master of Social Work, physician assistant, Master of Public Health and pharmacy. They attended breakout sessions like triage, Stop the Bleed®, pediatric disaster preparedness, public service resilience and DISASTER Paradigm™.
The training is a collaborative effort among the Southeast South Dakota Area Health Education Center, the USD School of Health Sciences, the USD Sanford School of Medicine and South Dakota State University. Funded by the South Dakota Department of Health and organized by the Southeast South Dakota AHEC, the event aims to equip students with the skills to support their communities in times of crisis. The event has expanded to Mitchell, Rapid City and Aberdeen in recent years as well.
“This event gives students a chance to see how disasters are handled, what they should do in certain emergency situations and gets them thinking about disaster preparedness in ways they might not have before,” explained Carrie Peschl, executive director of the Southeast South Dakota AHEC.
Students bolstered the day’s skills by completing four hours of online modules from the National Disaster Life Support Foundation, as well as a post-event assessment, which earned them a three-year certification in Essential Disaster Life Support. Additionally, students were encouraged to join SERV SD, a volunteer database for those willing to assist in disaster response within South Dakota, upon completing training.
“Disaster Training Day helps students build critical disaster-response skills while experiencing firsthand the importance of interprofessional teamwork,” explained Kari Potter, director of USD’s Interprofessional Health Education Center and chair and instructor in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science.
“Because real emergencies often require responders to perform tasks outside their usual roles, this training introduces students to common skills while emphasizing how clear communication and interprofessional collaboration improve patient outcomes.”
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