Disaster Preparedness

University of Pittsburgh via Coursera

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Details

Go to class

Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

14 hours
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

Arabic, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, English, Spanish, Kazakh, Hindi, Swedish, Korean, Greek, Chinese, Thai, Ukrainian, Japanese, Indonesian, Polish, Dutch, Turkish, Hungarian, Bengali, Pashto, Urdu, Azerbaijani, Farsi

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Overview

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

Introduction I 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 nature such as a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. A manmade disaster may be the result of a terrorist act or industrial accident. Depending on the scope of the disaster, the available resources may be local, state, federal, or multinational. In this module, I will introduce the phases of the disaster cycle. The disaster cycle is a process that we constantly review and strive to improve for the future. It is important for you to understand each phase because clear expectations will enable you to develop an effective plan to keep you and your family safe. At the end of the module, be sure to complete the quiz.

Introduction to 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 survivability during a disaster. Personal preparedness involves being both physically and mentally prepared to meet basic needs for at least three days without outside help. In the last module, we talked about the disaster cycle including mitigation, response, and recovery. In this module, our focus centers on the response phase. The disaster has hit and you are taking steps to survive and to be as safe and comfortable as possible. In the lectures, I will focus on food, shelter, water, and light in a disaster situation. In addition, we have on-site instructional videos that highlight survival skills such as fire-building and water purification. Do we have any campers in the class? For those of you who are campers, these skills will be a familiar review of basic wilderness survival techniques. The lectures will also give you ideas of supplies that you might want to include in your disaster kit. Take notes during the lectures to prepare for the discussion and quiz.

Disasters Throughout the World

What disasters should we prepare for?

Resource Limited Medicine

Disasters rarely happen conveniently next to a fully stocked hospital. Indeed, the very nature of disasters are to overwhelm available resources. Often people are injured during a disaster or during the recovery from a disaster. When the normal medical processes are unavailable, you may find yourself in a position to offer first aid or further medical care depending on your training level. Resource limited medicine, also called austere medicine, is concerned with training people to provide the best care possible with limited tools, personnel, space or time. Whether you have only what is in your backpack or you are helping at a temporary field station in a parking lot, resource limited first involves making the best use of the resources and materials at hand for treatment. At the end of the module, be sure to complete the quiz.

Caring for Vulnerable Populations During Disaster

In this module, we will focus our collective attention on the most vulnerable in our communities. During a disaster, it is the vulnerable that pay the highest price and have the least resources with which to rescue themselves. First, recognizing the issues is paramount, and then exploring tactics that can be used to prepare to protect, rescue, and mitigate harm during a disaster for anyone in our community that is at increased risk. This could be due to age, disability, dependence on others, lack of transportation, lack of infrastructure, and lack of knowledge. Our mission is to notice and respond to all folks and to attempt to decrease harm when we can. At the end of the module, be sure to complete the quiz.

Psychological First Aid for Disaster Victims and Responders I Conclusion

Disasters can be sudden, violent and overwhelming. Many people affected by disasters must deal with loss and change. While everyone processes the feelings and the trauma related to disastrous events in their own time, responders can help decrease stress and decrease long term suffering by using the principles of Psychological First Aid which will be reviewed and discussed in the following lecture, reading and activity.

Taught by

Michael Beach

Reviews

4.0 rating, based on 14 Class Central reviews

4.7 rating at Coursera based on 1631 ratings

Start your review of Disaster Preparedness

Ben
9

This was my first Coursera course I have ever taken- and I was highly disappointed at the quality leading me to not be interested in continuing with other courses. Yes, it is very easy, but if you are desiring to actually learn something I truly can…

This was my first Coursera course I have ever taken- and I was highly disappointed at the quality leading me to not be interested in continuing with other courses. Yes, it is very easy, but if you are desiring to actually learn something I truly cannot recommend this course.

But first let's share some Pros so this review is not all gloom!

Pros:
-Important material for those with no background
-Simple format
-Easy to follow
-Only a few 10 question quizzes
-Project is simple enough and tries to keep it relevant to your needs

Cons:
-Outdated
-Lectures are not visual- for the most part you are just watching the instructor (Michael Beach) talk in front of a blue screen. The occasional slide is almost always just words, few images to help relate the material if you are a visual learner.
-Material is VERY basic. While I did learn a couple things (that counts for something I guess?) overall the material is very roundabout and wordy. You will watch a lecture and a simple topic like "flashlight batteries" will go on and never seem to end. There is also a point where he covers the Zombie Apocalypse for several minutes as an attempt at humor making me feel even more that this course was a waste of time.

Overall, if you have any knowledge of emergency preparedness/survival I really do not recommend this course as it will feel like a waste of time (and certainly money if you think purchasing the certificate will be worth it!). My biggest issue is that the material is very outdated, and the time management of material is not well done. Pair that with lectures containing no visuals (do not let the intro video fool you- the intro makes it seem like lectures will take place outdoors and you will get to see hands on demos. This only occurs in the final segment and even then some (like water filtration) do not actually demo how items work they just show you the item.
Anonymous

First- it is important to note that this course is dated. You will learn in Module 1 that it is from 2013. While Disaster Preparedness is rather timeless this was disappointing. I am about halfway completed and the material is quite straightforward…

First- it is important to note that this course is dated. You will learn in Module 1 that it is from 2013. While Disaster Preparedness is rather timeless this was disappointing.

I am about halfway completed and the material is quite straightforward- though there will be a few moments where you will learn something so that is worth noting.

Overall I am disappointed- I believe mainly this is due to the outdated factor. As an example there is an entire segment dedicated to "Light" and discussing flashlights and power sources- with absolutely no mention of alternative energy sources like solar, crank, induction, shake. Instead the focus is on batteries, batteries, batteries.

If you just want a course to breeze through, that will have some relevancy to your life, this will do the trick. Just don't expect to be blown away or to learn much in regards to current technology/trends...
Anonymous

This course will prepare everyone to upcoming disasters. Many of us is not that prepared now that a pandemic is on the go but taking this course will help us be more prepared in future different disasters.
Sudhanshu Kumar Singh
2

Very nice course and I learnt a lot that's about Diaster, Types of disaster in detail and also I learn how to safe resources from disaster and overall it's a amazing course
Anonymous

The basics of Disaster Preparedness are timeless, so the course material was still relevant even if the course was created a few years ago. The material covered reinforced my knowledge on the subject when I first started working in the field and the…

The basics of Disaster Preparedness are timeless, so the course material was still relevant even if the course was created a few years ago. The material covered reinforced my knowledge on the subject when I first started working in the field and the advice given has helped be better prepare myself. Yes, the message on emergency preparedness might be redundant for some, but having been involved in disaster preparedness for a few years now, it is always surprising to see how many people are not prepared, either because they were not aware of the dangers, or simply because they have not taken the time to do it... So, for this reason, it is always good practice repeat the message and share this type of information to as many people as possible. It could litterally save lives.
Anonymous

It is good experience into the course .learn so much thinks in the course and experience so many things.how tackle into the disaster and conflict .such ggod thinks shared in the course as vedio learn the different thinks into different visions direction and such thinks I learned by experience person with lot of discussion and get such thinks we learn by this I will suggest my friend go through out to the course.
Noel Cullen
25

great course to if you like to be prepared, great information, great presentation, just a joy to do, loved it.
Aseen

Disaster Preparedness" is a comprehensive course that equips learners with essential knowledge and skills to effectively respond to emergencies. The course covers various aspects of disaster management, including risk assessment, emergency planning, and response strategies. With practical insights and case studies, it offers valuable insights into mitigating risks and ensuring community resilience. Highly recommended for anyone interested in enhancing their preparedness for unforeseen disasters.
Anonymous
Parth Kachhadiya

My review helps other learners like you discover great courses. Only review the course if you have taken or started taking this course.
helps other learners like you discover great courses. Only review the course if you have taken or started taking this course.Only review the course if you have taken or started taking this course.
Atif

I spent a good time doing these courses and improved a lot this gave me information about plate tectonics and how they affect the solar system. the main thing which I liked about this is that they introduced new thing in a better way through the video quality is not that much good but okay
Ais Sparkle Ling
22
Sarah Pierce
14
Norma-jean Benoy