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COM Outlook . Spring 2015
undergraduate students from across
the NSU campus interested in this
important area of disaster prepared-
ness and community response. In
addition to NSU-COM students, the
club currently has members from
the College of Dental Medicine and
College of Nursing as well as under-
graduate students in the Farquhar
College of Arts and Sciences’ Pre-
Medical Society and those pursuing a
major in exercise and sport science.
The Disaster Medicine Club,
which is more than just a social orga-
nization that invites speakers to par-
ticipate in lunch meetings, requires
all members to be trained as a volun-
teer for either the local Community
Emergency Response Team (CERT)
or the Medical Reserve Corps. Davie
Fire and Rescue—NSU’s CERT
partner—has already graduated
three groups of students and faculty
members that have successfully
completed a 20-hour CERT training.
This training includes psychologi-
cal first aid, light search and rescue,
field triage, fire safety, and basic first
aid, including CPR and the use of an
automated external defibrillator.
Using the training learned in the
classroom and during exercises,
CERT members can assist individu-
als in their community, workplace,
or on campus following an event
when professional responders are
not immediately available to help.
Many club members have also opted
to become members of the Medical
Reserve Corps.
Club members have the oppor-
tunity to participate in a variety of
volunteer activities both on campus
and in the community. To date,
members have participated in the
following events:
NSU COMMUNITYFEST
(where
children negotiated an obstacle
course and learned about CPR)
A DAY FOR CHILDREN
(where
children participated in a scavenger
hunt for items commonly found in a
grab-and-go kit)
NSU-COM PREPAREDNESS
ICE CREAM SOCIAL
(providing in-
formation to participants on a variety
of topics related to preparedness)
ACTIVE SHOOTER EXERCISE
on the NSU campus, Special Olym-
pics 5K run on the NSU campus, and
a full-scale disaster exercise at the
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Interna-
tional Airport
In addition, NSU’s Disaster Medi-
cine Club is the first student group
to be formally associated with the
American Academy of Disaster Medi-
cine (AADM). Currently, the club’s
officers and faculty advisers are
working with the AADM to develop
strategies to enhance student involve-
ment with the academy and at na-
tional conferences—and to pave the
way for other universities across the
country to develop sustainable stu-
dent organizations with high-stakes
community engagement in disaster
and emergency preparedness.
Disaster medicine is a neces-
sary and growing discipline, and in
the not-too-distant future, medical
schools, organizations, hospitals, and
associations that do not offer educa-
tion or credentials in disaster medi-
cine may very well be compared to
hotels that do not provide in-room
Internet. The study of disaster
medicine will develop physicians
and other health care leaders that not
only provide medical care to victims
of tragedy, but also are involved in
the preparation, planning, response,
and recovery efforts related to disas-
ters—and taking a leadership role in
these efforts. The NSU-COM Disaster
Medicine Club is certainly a step in
this direction, and we are proud to
be the faculty advisers of this new
and innovative club.
