Table of Contents

Preface.


 1. Disasters: A Basic Overview.


 2. Planning for Disasters.


 3. Organization and Implementation of the Disaster Response.


 4. Promoting Mental Health: Predisaster and Postdisaster.


 5. Preparing Nursing Administrators, Faculty, and Students for Disasters and Decontamination.


 6. Preparing Staff and Inactive Registered Nurses to Manage Casualties.


 7. Management and Preparation for Battlefield Casualties.


 8. Preparing Community Health Nurses and Nurses in Ambulatory Health Centers.


 9. Considerations for Vulnerable Populations.


10. Preparing Nurses to Plan and Care for Children During Disaster Situations.


11. Role of the Infection Control Nurse in Disaster Preparedness.


12. Disaster as the Personal Experience.


Appendices.


Appendix A: Agencies and Acronyms.


Appendix B: Test Your Knowledge Answers.


Appendix C: Decontamination Forms.


Index.

About the Author

Dotti C. James, PhD, RN is an Associate Professor at Saint Louis University School of Nursing. She traveled as part of a team to the Henrietta Szold Hadassah Hebrew University School of Nursing and the Hadassah Medical Centers in Israel to learn about preparing health care providers to manage mass casualty events. She has spoken at area colleges, hospitals, skilled-care facilities, and professional and first responder organizations about various aspects of preparing for and responding to terrorism. She is currently a faculty member in the Disaster Preparedness Online Certificate Program for Nurses, covering topics such as organization of the disaster response, management of casualties, and considerations for vulnerable populations. Dr. James coordinates the online and onsite Perinatal Nursing Graduate Specialty. Her research interests include developing an evidence base for intrapartal nursing interventions, the effectiveness of educational strategies and techniques, and nursing attitudes and awareness about victims of violence. She has received awards for Excellence in Classroom Teaching from Saint Louis University and the Emerson Electric Company. Dr. James has served in leadership roles in local, regional, and national professional organizations, and is a contributing author to three texts.

Joanne C. Langan, PhD, RN is an Assistant Professor at Saint Louis University School of Nursing. She received a BS in Education from Quincy University and a BSN from the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Langan earned MSN and PhD degrees in Nursing Administration and a Nursing Education Certificate from George Mason University. While a faculty member at GMU, she was the Co-Project Director for the Washington Regional Academic and Community Consortium and the Project Director of the Partnerships for Quality Education. At Saint Louis University, Dr. Langan is the coordinator of the traditional students' Public Health Nursing course. Research and areas of interest include Faculty Practice and nursing student learning, the Nursing Shortage, Community Partnerships in Graduate Medical and Nursing Education, and Disaster Preparedness. She is a contributing author for two Community-Based Nursing Practice books. She was a member of a team who received intensive education at the Henrietta Szold Hadassah Hebrew University School of Nursing and the Hadassah Medical Centers in Israel and is developing modules and curriculum as a faculty member of a Bioterrorism/Disaster Preparedness Certificate Program. Dr. Langan is a consultant/member of the Emergency Preparedness Team at St. Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood.