When cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was invented in the 1970s, the goal was to train as many potential bystanders as possible to help if someone had a heart attack or choked in public. In an effort to educate everyone about the importance of learning basic chest compression and the Heimlich maneuver, even Hollywood got in on the act, incorporating the practices into movie and TV storylines. As a result of great marketing, these days virtually everyone knows what CPR is, and hundreds of thousands of people are trained to do it.
In the new millennium, a heightened awareness of both terrorism and the impact of natural disasters has created a need for a “new CPR”; core skills that will help both laypeople and medical professionals meet the challenges of man-made and natural disasters. Why is this important? Consider this:
The 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake wiped out eight hospitals and affected twenty million people.
Last year, Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma decimated much of three major Gulf Coast cities.
In 2004 Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne laid waste to Florida.
No one will ever forget the World Trade Center bombings on September 11, 2001.
Today, you need DLS more than CPR
Ironically, many people believe they need CPR training more than they need training in Disaster Life Support (DLS), owing to thirty years of great public relations efforts on behalf of CPR. The fact is you are far more likely to be called upon at some point in your life to utilize Disaster Life Support skills than you are likely to be a bystander when someone experiences sudden heart death, for which CPR was designed.
The key idea here is heightened awareness; like heart attacks, disasters have always happened, but we’re more aware of disasters than ever before and are therefore called upon to respond as never before. The number of people in the last decade who have been directly affected by natural disaster exceeds the number of people who have experienced sudden heart death in the last two decades. In other words, the likelihood that you, your family, or your neighbors are going to need Disaster Life Support skills is actually twice as great as the chance that you will ever need to use your CPR skills!
DLS training available for everyone
If Disaster Life Support is the new CPR, then the National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLS) parallels the American Heart Association. Established by the American Medical Association, this group of universities and government agencies saw an evolving risk two years before 9-11 and a need for the lay-public, health care providers, and advanced health care providers to have basic skill sets in the event of a disaster.
Training in Disaster Life Support is offered as a public service, usually through universities. It is not yet consistently well marketed, so you may not know about it in a timely fashion. Though universities and the federal government feel the critical need to train health care providers and first responders, they also offer training to anyone who wants to come to a Disaster Life Support course.
To train citizens to first protect themselves and then deal as first responders and medical responders to natural and man-made disaster, the National Disaster Life Support Foundation designed three courses:
Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS) is the equivalent of CPR; it is “for the people.” Designed for the layperson, this course teaches participants how to prepare for a natural or man-made disaster, how to know a disaster is coming, and how to survive the first 72 hours after the crisis when you are likely to be awaiting rescue and are responsible for own and your family’s well-being.1
Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) teaches rescue personnel and health care providers specifics about treating injuries and other immediate medical consequences of disasters as well as many of the basic skills of the CDLS course, so they, too, can keep themselves and their families safe and avoid distraction as they set about helping others. 1
Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS) lasts two days and involves participants in live disaster drills in conjunction with local fire, rescue, and police departments. Tailored to the community’s needs, the programs may provide terrorism, hurricane, or tornado drills to train high-level, advanced providers who are called upon every time there’s a disaster. The scene is set as if the disaster has already happened, with actors and mannequins as victims. Participants earn certification as qualified to run a disaster scene. 1
Specialized training in the “new CPR” for businesses
Some large businesses have been doing CPR training in-house for years, so Business Disaster Life Support programs have been designed to offer a specialized core Disaster Life Support course for employees and managers as well as some specialized planning and contingency issues for the business itself, such as providing a model for securing the facility in the event of an evacuation. BizDLS, as the program is known, helps organizations answer important questions such as “When should we stay open and when should we get the heck out of town?” With this training, organizations can better integrate into their communities during the disaster and during the immediate recovery period. Far-sighted businesses have responded well.
Four hour investment = Life-changing empowerment
Disaster Life Support training at all levels must become the standard in the U.S. and internationally, just as CPR did in the 1970s and 1980s. The public must be trained to care for themselves as much as possible, and every doctor, nurse, paramedic, respiratory therapist, and even veterinarian must learn basic Disaster Life Support. That way they can first protect themselves and their families so they then feel safe, secure, and competent to aid the public in the event of a disaster. The ultimate goal is to avoid the chaos of unpreparedness that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and to increase the number of people who are rescued successfully and receive care.
DLS courses are not scary; they are four-hour classes that are fun and empowering as the participant learns to take control in disaster situations. In fact every course for the last three years has sold out, around the country and the world. The training gives the participant a chance, as CPR courses did, to walk out and say, “I not only know how to take care of myself, but I also know how to save lives.” There’s a difference: with CPR you can only save one person, with DLS, you can learn to save your family, your neighborhood, your business, or even your entire community.
About the author
Dr. Maurice A. Ramirez is co-founder of Disaster Life Support of North America, Inc., a national provider of Disaster Preparation, Planning, Response and Recovery education. Through his consulting firm High Alert, LLC., he serves on expert panels for pandemic preparedness and healthcare surge planning with Congressional and Cabinet Members. Board certified in multiple medical specialties, Dr. Ramirez is Founding Chairperson of the American Board of Disaster Medicine and a Senior Physician-Federal Medical Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Cited in 24 textbooks with numerous published articles, he is co-creator of C5RITICAL and author of Mastery Against Adversity. Dr. Ramirez invites comments at: www.disaster-blog.com
Griffin Works offers Pawsitive Interactions with Service Dogs During Response Operations©, an audience-customized training that breaks down barriers by offering hands-on handling training and demonstrations with working service dogs for fire departments, EMS agencies, and public safety organizations.
Part of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium and home to the National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center, TEEX has been leading homeland security training since 1998. The major TEEX programs include fire and rescue, infrastructure and safety, law enforcement, economic and workforce development, and homeland security. As a member of The Texas A&M University System, TEEX is unique in its ability to access a broad range of emerging research and technical expertise. Beginning with course design and development all the way through hands-on instruction and national certification testing, TEEX delivers comprehensive training through both classroom and hands-on instruction and as online courses.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) was created by Congress in 2000 as part of the Children’s Health Act to raise the standard of care and increase access to services for children and families who experience or witness traumatic events. This unique network of child-serving professionals, caregivers and young adults, researchers, and national partners is committed to changing the course of children’s lives by improving their care and moving scientific gains quickly into practice across the U.S. The NCTSN is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and coordinated by the UCLA-Duke University National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS).
The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The EMI provides national leadership in developing and delivering training to ensure that individuals and groups having key emergency management responsibilities possess the requisite skills to effectively perform their jobs.
The High Alert Institute maintains a list of reviewed courses provided by governments, universities and professional organizations. This list is geared towards the non-emergency management person who participates in disaster planning, preparedness, response, recovery or mitigation as part of their job responsibilities.
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Koi need forever homes, too! For pond enthusiasts, freshwater exotic and ornamental fish may not be available through pet stores or rescues in their area. The High Alert Institute Aquatic Pet Shelter Rehoming Program will be happy to assist you in stocking your new pond or adding a new finned friend to your school. Coming soon – when you adopt a Koi from the High Alert Institute Aquatic Pet Shelter Rehoming Program, we can arrange for delivery to your door anywhere in the continental United States.
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Disasters are defined as situations in which needs exceed or overwhelm available resources. Some disasters affect an entire community, while other disasters impact individuals and families. Crises of physical or psychological health can be very personal disasters.
The therapeutic value of pets during illness, trauma, and recovery is well established. And Koi fish may be well suited for people who are not able to provide verbal pet commands or physically care for pets like dogs and cats. Koi ponds are also a source of beauty and peace, providing an ideal setting for quiet reflection or meditation.
We are working to partner with pond installers and aquatic pet rescues/shelters to offer free or reduced-cost ponds with rehomed Koi fish to people seeking this type of pet therapy.
Disasters disrupt life and impact our sense of personal, family, and community safety. Survivors and responders alike often are not aware of the emotional, psychological or spiritual challenges that they may face from disaster onset through recovery. With two decades of experience training responders and communities to prepare for the behavioral health aspects of disasters, we will continue to provide education and a curated list of resources to groups or individuals.
Non-medical factors that impact overall health are termed Social Determinants of Health or SDoH. Noise pollution, poor air quality, and poor water quality are three environmental factors known to have a strong link to overall health. And the same environmental factors that impact humans impact their pets and other animals in their care. We continue to assist in advocacy, education, and technology development to mitigate the impact of SDoH on humans and animals alike.
Our efforts in shelter and rescue are the main focus of our environmental stewardship, reducing the environmental impact of non-native aquatic animals being dumped into public waterways. The High Alert Institute also assists innovators with the design, development, and evaluation of green and renewable energy technologies. Reducing the carbon footprint associated with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery furthers our continued mission to mitigate risk and improve resilience.
We partner with public and private organizations, sharing resources and fostering partnerships to improve disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, and mitigation.
The High Alert Institute team has over a century of combined research experience in medical, nursing, behavioral health, and disaster sciences. Our team provides support to researchers and technology developers through comprehensive literature searches and reviews, as well as failure mode database searches and adjudicated reviews.
When disaster strikes, most aquatic pet owners have limited options to secure the safety of their pets. Sheltering in place may not be possible if there is no power to provide aeration and “pet-friendly” shelters do not include ponds or aquariums. Our goal is to provide an option for aquatic pet owners in need of rescue and shelter for their finned friends.
Our goal is to share our two decades of disaster readiness experience with animal welfare organizations, shelters, caretakers, and pet owners, as they implement contingency plans for natural and manmade disasters.
