Disaster 101 A Novel Approach to Disaster Medicine Training for Health Professionals

Medical students participated in a 90-minute didactic training scenario and 2, 40-minute training exercises (a hazardous material scene and a surprise mass casualty incident (MCI) scenario with 100 life-sized mannequins) added to an existing medical school curriculum. Pre- and post-tests were administered to assess student perceptions and disaster medicine knowledge. Post-test scores improved by 54%; students participating in the MCI drill correctly tagged 94% of the victims in approximately 10 minutes; and participants rated the course very favorably.