This Facilitator’s Guide accompanies the radiation disasters training material entitled Enhancing Personal Readiness and Resilience for Radiation Disasters for presentation in community groups. The Guide explains the purpose and goals of a training session, things a facilitator needs to do before the session, the schedule and outline, and resources required to facilitate the exercises included in the training.
The Guide is part of a suite of tools developed by the American Medical Association Center for Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response to support physicians and their patients in improving readiness and resilience related to radiological emergencies. Other products are:
- Enhancing Personal Readiness and Resilience for Radiation Disasters [Presentation]
- Enhancing Personal Readiness and Resilience for Radiation Disasters: A Guide for all Citizens [Primer]
- Evaluation Form
The program is part of a standardized disaster health education program administered by the American Medical Association (AMA). The program aims to attain national all-hazards preparedness goals by providing critical medical and mental health information to enable individual citizens to play a more effective role in local disaster planning and response, and ensure their integration into the overall emergency response system. The overarching goals of the program are to build individual and community readiness and resilience to disasters by providing knowledge and skills to minimize injury, illness, and death, as well as increase individual motivation to become more engaged in local volunteer initiatives.
This instructor-led course seeks to empower individuals by providing the information and skills they need to protect their health and safety in a radiation event. Informed individuals are better able to understand their personal responsibilities (eg, to self-decontaminate and to listen for direction from public health and medical personnel). They know where to turn for up-to-date information about an evolving incident and when and where to seek medical attention; and have the means to take action to help others in need of assistance.