NCDMPH, Education, Resources, Resilience Through Learning, Earthquakes

Ideas for Educators of Health Professionals

Below are ideas for educators who are teaching health professionals and may wish to develop learning content or activities related to health impacts of earthquakes. These ideas should be customized based on the learners, their needs, scope of practice, and the educational context.

Options for Learning Objectives:

At the end of the learning activity, the learner will be able to:

1. Describe how earthquakes impact human health, especially in health systems, clinical, behavioral, and public health dimensions, including evacuation and population displacement effects.

2. State ways in which health professionals can contribute to preparedness for, response to, and recovery from earthquakes given their scope of practice.

3. Critically analyze the multiple role-based expectations of health professionals in earthquakes disasters. Major role categories include:

   • individual

   • family (Including role as a significant other, caretaker of children, and/or caretaker of elderly family)

   • organization

   • profession

   • community

4. Discuss the role of volunteers in the health response to earthquakes.

5. List environmental health risks associated with earthquakes.

6. Identify pertinent Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) and describe the employment of key resources on the mass care of populations displaced by earthquakes, with special emphasis on health considerations.

Options for Learning Activities:

1. Walk through the resources [link to Resilience Through Learning page with resources] online during class and discuss their applicability and utility for the learner.

2. Lead a class discussion about the health and systems impacts of earthquakes. Possible discussion questions are:

   • Describe the top 3 causes of illness and injury associated with earthquakes.

   • What are the public health implications of earthquakes?

   • Are there unique behavioral health considerations for earthquakes disasters?

   • How have population displacements associated with earthquakes affected the health of the evacuees and what are the health system challenges in supporting these populations?

3. How can you as a health professional, within your scope of practice, contribute to the preparedness for, response to, and recovery from a earthquake?

4. In the context of a earthquake disaster, consider the following:

   • What do you expect of yourself?

   • What does your family (significant others) expect of you?

   • What does your organization expect of you?

   • What does your profession expect of you?

   • What does the community expect of you?

5. Focusing on volunteers in earthquake disasters:

• Generate a discussion about the role of health professional volunteers in responding to earthquakes. Does this type of disaster pose different challenges for volunteer response?

• Ask if any of the learners are involved in ESAR-VHP(link is external) or Medical Reserve Corps(link is external). If so, provide an opportunity for them to describe their involvement.

• Make links to these programs available to learners.

• Invite a member of another health profession or another specialty within your profession to discuss interprofessional coordination and collaboration necessary in response to an earthquake. Discuss barriers to such interprofessional coordination and collaboration.