Key Information
About the content
Have you ever viewed a news report depicting the aftermath of a devastating natural disaster? The damage to human life and property are both staggering and heartbreaking. All parts of the world face the possibility of floods, hurricanes, tornados, fires, landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural phenomena. Are you prepared if disaster would strike you? This course will help you prepare! The course is appropriate for any learner who is proactive about developing the core competencies of disaster readiness and survival planning. It is especially useful if you are seeking techniques that can ensure your personal protection, as well as the safety of your family, property, and belongings, during a natural disaster. In addition, it offers essential preparation for a variety of emergency situations and inconveniences, even if you do not live in major tornado, flood, hurricane, tsunami, or earthquake zone. For instance, could you and your loved ones manage without access to potable water, electricity, fuel, and banking facilities? If you are unsure of your ability to respond in any of these possible scenarios, this course is for you! Throughout the course, you will be introduced to the Disaster Cycle, specifically the Mitigation and Recovery phases, and will create an extensive personal preparedness plan for survival in the absence of common amenities, such as food and water, shelter, and communication. You will also acquire practical, easy-to-apply strategies for maintaining a healthy attitude during disaster which can allow you to remain calm, avoid panic, and draw upon inner and outer resources in dire circumstances. Although death may be an inevitable outcome of extreme circumstances, a balanced outlook can provide comfort for all parties involved. Finally, issues of how institutions and governments can aid in disaster are also discussed. If you are interested in this topic you may be interested in other online programs at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. Learn more about those programs by visiting our website: http://www.online.pitt.edu/programs/school-of-nursing/
Syllabus
- Week 1 - Introduction & Disaster Cycle
A disaster can be defined in several ways, but in all cases is a destructive event that overwhelms all available resources. A disaster may originate as natural or manmade and may be intentional or accidental. A natural disaster is caused by the forces of natur... - Week 2 - Personal Preparedness Basics
There are a few extreme circumstances such as a 30 foot wall of water during a tsunami or a 10-point Richter scale earthquake that are so severe it is impossible to prepare for the disaster. However, in most cases people can take a few steps to ensure their s... - Week 3 - Personal Preparedness Safety
As we have discussed, disasters significantly overwhelm community resources and it is critical that you have a plan. In the last module, we considered the basics of food, shelter, and water in your personal preparedness plan. In this module, we move on to th... - Week 4 - Attitudes and Awareness
Disasters are understandably stressful situations that trigger panic, fear, confusion, and uncertainty. During a disaster, you lose control of many aspects of your life. Your family may not be together. You may not be able to access food, water, shelter, tra... - Week 5 - International Perspectives
In this module, we welcome guest speaker Dr. Kenichi Ogura who will discuss disaster planning in Japan. Dr. Ogura works at the Center for Emergency Medicine in Kanazawa Medical University Hospital. I am confident you will find Dr. Ogura’s presentation very he... - Week 6 - Support and Medical Considerations
During Module 6, we will explore triage as a necessary but difficult task during disaster management. Triage is using the available resources to effectively treat the maximum number of patients with the greatest chance of survival. The process requires the cl... - Week 7 - Wilderness Survival
In the last module we talked about how disasters can displace you and your family from the comforts of your home, leaving you without food, water, and electricity. However, if you were left without shelter, or forced to take refuge in the natural habitat, are ...
Instructors
Michael Beach
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing
Content Designer
Platform
Coursera is a digital company offering massive open online course founded by computer teachers Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller Stanford University, located in Mountain View, California.
Coursera works with top universities and organizations to make some of their courses available online, and offers courses in many subjects, including: physics, engineering, humanities, medicine, biology, social sciences, mathematics, business, computer science, digital marketing, data science, and other subjects.
Great course thanks to the teachers and coursera for creating this wonderful opportunities to learn l will definitely recommend to my friends.
Great course thanks to the teachers and coursera for creating this wonderful opportunities to learn l will definitely recommend to my friends.
It is a great course...This will help you in understanding how you prepare and mitigate for the disaster..It is a well equipped and a good course conducted.
Great course. Everyone should be required to take this. There are disasters just waiting to happen in all parts of the country and the world. Be Prepared!
Very timely. I am grateful for the opportunity to get some good information on preparedness with out the hype of the WTSHTF ideology. Preparedness should be a common goal for any emergency, or at least the most predictable ones.
Excellent Course. The case studies from Japan are really informative and give a good insight into the Disaster Management System. The modules on Personal Preparedness are a must for everyone in today's time.
