TM5557 - Disaster Health Management

Credit points:	03
Year:	2007
Student Contribution Band:	Band 2
Administered by:	Discipline of Public Health & Tropical Medicine

This subject will provide students with an overview of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for the successful health management of disasters in the Australian and the global context with a special focus on problems with high likelihood and risk in the tropics.

Learning Outcomes

• be able to apply a generic model to specific disasters and recognise priorities in care;
• be able to perform both a risk assessment as part of planning and a needs assessment in response to a disaster;
• be able to understand the process for recovery of communities and nations and the transition of responsibility;
• be aware of the available resources and standards that may be of use in disaster health management;
• be aware of the ethical, cultural and legal aspects of disaster health care;
• know the principles of on scene and hospital management including the roles of Emergency Services and challenges of medical care in the disaster environment;
• understand the differences between disasters and disaster responses in developed and developing countries;
• understand the epidemiology of disasters including types, severity and economic, human and societal impact of these;
• understand the factors which determine the differences in both effects of disasters and the response to them;
• understand the importance of common causes of difficulty in disasters communication, media, security, logistics;
• understand the principles of disaster planning;
• understand the psychological impact of disasters on individuals, populations and responders;
• understand the roles of Governments, NGOs and the military in disaster planning and response and the interaction between these.

Availabilities
Townsville, Block, Study Period 8
Census Date 31-Aug-2007
Face to face teaching 06-Aug-2007 to 17-Aug-2007
Coordinator:	Dr Peter Aitken
Lecturers:	Assoc. Professor Jon Hodge, Dr Peter Aitken, Professor Peter Leggat, xjc00940.
Assessment:	other exams (50%); assignments (30%); take home exam (20%).

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.