Health: Austere Emergency Response

Intermediate courses on health topics beyond the scope of departmental or college offerings. See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.

Open to degree and non-degree students;; Special Topics sections cannot have CC designations.

Emergencies, disasters, crises and more rarely happen right where and when you want them to. Responding to people in crisis is tough enough under the best of circumstances. So, what do you do to help others when the tools and resources upon which you generally depend simply aren’t available? While traditional training for emergency response is based around the concept of access to resources (ambulances, clinics, emergency departments, medications, supplies and more), in many situations, you may simply not have many, if any, of these. When this happens, what do you do? How do you prepare for the unexpected? What are the concerns and considerations that must be taken into account both practically and clinically to affect the best possible outcome for your patient(s) and yourself? How are these considerations affected by the very nature of the resource limited situation in which you find yourself? This course will focus on identifying and investigating various types of austere and resource limited emergency responses, from: wilderness conditions to humanitarian aid, disaster response to international travel, expedition and basecamp provider to adventure guide, event coverage to camp nurse, Search and Rescue (SAR) teams to just accidents in daily life. We’ll look at the nature and conditions of different austere situations including: operational and environmental considerations and frameworks, at-risk populations, potential likelihood for types of injury and illness, and more. Students will be introduced to strategies for developing effective preparation and safety planning for resource limited response. Practical components of this course will explore strategies and techniques for effective patient assessment, treatment and management under austere conditions.

While existing experience and/or certification in emergency response is appropriate, it is not necessary for this course as most of what will be explored exists outside of traditional training, experience and certification/licensure.