Target Audience/Disciplines

Hospital staff members who comprise a Hospital Emergency Response Team, such as physicians, nurses, administrators, security personnel, environmental staff, and other hospital staff.

Overview

The Hospital Emergency Response Training for Mass Casualty Incidents (HERT) course addresses healthcare response at the operations level for the facility and its personnel. This three-day course prepares healthcare responders to utilize the Hospital Incident Command System — integrating into the community emergency response network while operating an Emergency Treatment Area as hospital first responders during a mass casualty incident involving patient contamination. The healthcare responders will determine and use appropriate personal protective equipment and conduct triage followed by decontamination of ambulatory and nonambulatory patients as members of a Hospital Emergency Response Team.

Below are some, but not all, of the critical skill sets learned during this training program:

• Analyze the need, composition, and use of a Hospital Emergency Treatment Team during an emergency, mass casualty incident, or disaster situation.
• Summarize the organization and operation of the Hospital Incident Command System as it integrates with the Incident Command System during response to mass casualty incident.
• Differentiate the medical responses to a variety of illnesses and injuries that may result from a mass casualty incident.
• Select and use the appropriate level of personal protective equipment as hospital first receivers in response to a disaster involving patient contamination.
• Structure the healthcare facility Emergency Treatment Area to support medical operations in response a mass casualty incident.
• Establish a Hospital Emergency Response Team that meets all safety requirements, provides security to the hospital, and efficiently manages patients for processing into the hospital facility for follow-up treatment.
• Compare decontamination methods and procedures.
• Perform Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment© (START) and JumpSTART procedures within the Emergency Treatment Area during a hospital response to a mass casualty incident involving contamination.
• Conduct operations in an Emergency Treatment Area while wearing appropriate personal protective equipment in response to a mass casualty incident involving contamination.
• Conduct an effective medical response to a mass casualty incident using the Hospital Emergency Response Team approach.

Prerequisites and Requirements

To be eligible for the course, the student must successfully complete the following courses:

• AWR-160, WMD/Terrorism Awareness for Emergency Responders;
• IS-100.HCb, Introduction to Incident Command System for Healthcare/Hospitals;
• IS-200.HCa, Applying ICS to Healthcare Organizations; and
• IS-700.a, National Incident Management System, An Introduction.
• It is recommended to have successfully completed operations-level CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) or hazardous-materials training as specified in 29 CFR 1910.120(q)(6)(ii), at a minimum.

Continuing Education Credits

The Center for Domestic Preparedness is authorized by IACET to offer 2.4 continuing education units for this program.

Nursing through Alabama Board of Nursing (nurses only): 24

Continuing Medical Education, through University of Alabama at Birmingham (additional allied health professionals may be able to apply for these continuing medical education units): 24

CA Environmental Health Specialist, through National Environmental Health Association (environmental health professionals): 32

Police Officer Standards and Training (POST), if approved by the student’s state: 24