The Disaster Site Worker Outreach Training Program

Overview
Disaster job sites differ from normal construction or demolition sites. Therefore, Disaster Site Workers' roles and responsibilities on the job site are not the same either. Whether the disaster is natural or man-made, the on-site worker needs to develop an awareness of safety and health hazards that may be encountered. Enabling Disaster Site Workers to recognize that they have a responsibility to make decisions and choices that will positively affect their personal health/safety and that of others at the site is a primary theme of this 16-hour awareness course. Learners are given the opportunity to practice their new knowledge, skills and attitudes through discussion, planned exercises, demonstrations and presentations. The ability to immediately apply this new learning to their role as a disaster site worker is enhanced by participating in this interactive, instructor-lead course.

Overall Course Goal
Given a job at a natural or man-made disaster site, the participant will be aware of the safety and health hazards, including CBRNE agents, that may be encountered as well as of the importance of respiratory and other personal protective equipment and proper decontamination procedures that may be used to mitigate the hazards. Participants will support the use of an Incident Command System through the safe performance of their job responsibilities. They will be able to show awareness of effects of traumatic incident stress that can result from working conditions and measures to reduce this stress. In addition, participants will be able to perform the following specific tasks correctly: 1) inspection of an air-purifying respirator, 2) donning and doffing an air-purifying respirator, and 3) respirator user seal check.

Course Topics
1. Introduction/Overview (1.5 hours)
2. Orientation to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command Systems (1.0 hour)
3. Safety Hazards (2.5 hours)
4. Health Hazards (2.0 hours)
5. CBRNE Agents (1.0 hour)
6. Traumatic Incident Stress Awareness (1.0 hour)
7. Respiratory Protection (3.5 hours)
8. Other Personal Protective Equipment (1.25 hours)
9. Decontamination (1.5 hours)
10. Final Exercise (0.75 hours)