Course Summary

There are four sections in this course:

• Section 1: Hospital ‘First Receivers’ and Contaminated Patients in the Hospital
• Section 2: Recognizing Hazardous Substances in the Emergency Department
• Section 3: Understanding the Hospital’s Response Plan & Your Role
• Section 4: Common Hazardous Substances in Your Community

There are review questions at the end of each section. These review questions will provide you with an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills presented in these sections. There is a post-test at the end of the course. 

A Certificate of Completion is awarded on successful completion of this course. 

Intended Audience

health care workers in a hospital environment who may potentially have contact with a contaminated patient

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this part, you will be able to:

• Distinguish between a “first responder” and a “first receiver”
• Describe how a HAZMAT incident evolves, and what a hospital emergency department can expect
• Recognize the presence of a hazardous material in the emergency department
• List the essential components of a HAZMAT response plan
• Understand your facility’s HAZMAT policies/procedures and your role
• List important issues to consider when dealing with contaminated patients
• List the facts an emergency department needs to know about a HAZMAT incident in order to implement a response plan
• Identify which hazardous substances are most prevalent in Iowa and in your community
• Describe the following about the most prevalent hazardous substances: general signs and symptoms of exposure, and where they are typically found

Pre-requisites/Learning Level

No pre-requisites

Competencies addressed

Competencies identified

• 1.1 Solve problems under emergency conditions
  • 1.1.1 Recognize emergency conditions and the resulting problems
  • 1.1.2 Evaluate the level of hazard or risk
  • 1.1.3 Prioritize problems based on level of hazard and degree of risk
  • 1.1.17Refer problems that fall outside his or her scope of authority to the appropriate person in the chain of command

• 1.3 Facilitate collaboration with internal and external emergency response partners
  • 1.3.1 Compare the roles of relevant internal and external emergency response partners (including, but not limited to, agencies, organizations, authorities, elected leaders and stakeholders).

• 1.4 Maintain situational awareness
  • 1.4.3 Use information and resources to identify changes in the situation and/or response.
  • 1.4.7 Distinguish between critical and non-critical elements of the emergency in terms of creation of situational awareness.

• 1.6 Act within the scope of one’s legal authority.
  • 1.6.3 Access the emergency preparedness and response policies and procedures of one’s own organization.
  • 1.6.5 Document appropriate information relative to the application of the law.

• 2.3 Report information potentially relevant to the identification and control of an emergency through the chain of command
  • 2.3.2 Communicate within the organization defined command structure (i.e.$nbsp;report up, communicate down).

• 2.4 Collect Data according to protocol.
  • 2.4.1 Use standardized protocol to collect data.
  • 2.4.2 Identify key local resources of data.

• 2.5 Manage the recording and/or transcription of data according to protocol.
  • 2.5.1 Adhere to relevant ethics guidelines, state and federal laws regarding data collection, management and dissemination.

• 3.3 Participate in improving the organization capacities (including, but not limited to programs, plans, policies, laws and workforce training).
  • 3.3.3 Adapt skill sets to meet the needs during an emergency response situation.
  • 3.3.6 Prioritize critical emergency preparedness responsibilities in one’s own program.

• 4.2 Employ protective behaviors according to changing conditions, personal limitations, and threats

• 4.2.2 Categorize potential threats and emergencies.
• 4.2.3 Promote taking protective actions in response to current and changing threats
• 4.2.12 Employ practices to minimize exposures to agents and hazard during an emergency.

• 4.3 Report unresolved threats to physical and mental health through the chain of command

• 4.3.1 discuss the types of physical hazards and resulting injuries one might encounter while performing their role during emergency planning and reponse.

CEUs Offered

None

Cost

Free

Modality/format

Online Self-Pace

Length

1 hour

Presenter(s) and/or Content Experts

Technical requirements:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader 
• Flash Player 
• Speakers

Registration requirements

Register a free account

Content creation and/or update

May 20, 2015