In 2003, the American Medical Association (AMA), in partnership with four major medical centers and three national health organizations, established the
National Disaster Life Support (NDLS) training program to better prepare healthcare professionals and emergency response personnel for mass casualty events. The overarching goal is to standardize emergency response training nationwide and strengthen our nation’s public health system.
The NDLS courses stress a comprehensive all-hazards approach to help physicians and other health professionals deal with catastrophic emergencies from terrorist acts as well as from explosions, fires, natural disasters (such as hurricanes and floods), and infectious diseases.
In large-scale mass casualty events, physicians and other healthcare workers must be knowledgeable of the need for efficient coordination among local, state, and federal emergency response efforts; how to protect themselves and others from further harm; how to communicate effectively with other emergency personnel and the media; and how to address the unique psychological impacts and related social chaos that may ensue. By completing these courses, clinicians will better understand their integrated roles in the broader disaster response system.
Effective Fall of 2008, Pacific EMPRINTS became the National Disaster Life Support (NDLS) Training Center-Pacific. Pacific EMPRINTS is one of 35 NDLS Regional Training Centers in the United States and is the only such Center in Hawaii. Pacific EMPRINTS and its associated NDLS Faculty are able to offer the following two courses in Hawaii and other locations in the Pacific region. The first course,
Basic
Disaster Life Support, lays out the conceptual framework for the second course,
Advanced Disaster Life Support, which uses hands-on exercises and scenarios to train participants. The following pages contain flyers with details regarding each of the NDLS courses listed below.
- Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS)
- Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS)