1 credit Saturday class

I took a class this weekend that is designed for RN's to recieve continuing education (CEU's), but it can also be taken by current undergrad students for one college credit. It was called Disaster Preparedness for the School Nurse. I have not even the slightest of interests or intentions of ever becoming a school nurse, but it still was an interesting class. It was a lot more down to earth and straightforward than some aspects of the other training that we are getting in our Monday - Friday classes right now. Surprisingly, there was a considerable amount of credit given to the roles of authority held by the fire chief and EMS personnel in the event of a school crisis. School nurses, who are responsible for up to 1500 students, are required to take some of the same NIMS ICS training segments provided by FEMA as the firefighters, police, and EMS providers are required to take. The class on Saturday focused on developing strategies and plans and efficiently managing large groups of students in the event of either natural or terroristic tragedies. Also, evaluating the outcome afterwards and dealing with the recovery needs of those involved in the incident was discussed. I guess it was interesting to me because most of what was taught had to do with community, triage, and prehosptial emergent care. If this class were to be compared to a hazmat, rope rescue, water rescue, vehicle rescue class, or some other firefighter's training, it would probably be comparable to an "operations" level of class (when the hierarchy is awareness, operations, then technician).