After 9/11, in response to the lack of a standardized national training program for disaster management education, a quartet of educational and healthcare institutions set out to create a National Disaster Life Support (NDLS) curriculum. The Medical College of Georgia, University of Georgia, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, with sponsorship from the American Medical Association (AMA), created the courses, then created the National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLSF) with a primary mission of establishing and accrediting a national network of training centers.

The courses utilize an all-hazards approach and are patterned after the nationally recognized Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support programs. The NDLS courses provide prehospital and hospital-based personnel a consistent, streamlined approach to multiple-casualty management and a consistent method of recognizing and responding to multiple-casualty incidents.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Currently, there are four courses available for emergency-response personnel. The following descriptions come from the NDLSF website, www.bdls.com.

CORE DISASTER LIFE SUPPORT
Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS) is a four-hour awareness-level course focused on the medical first responder, but also useful for nonmedical providers.

The program is constructed around the DISASTER paradigm (see Three Key Mnemonics, page 61) and is designed to teach core concepts of disaster management. In addition, students are taught concepts that will allow them to be more effective in the recognition of and response to medical disasters. MASS triage is taught to allow these providers to more effectively assist in mitigation. Hospital administrators and emergency planners will gain useful information for planning for the medical consequences of disasters.

BASIC DISASTER LIFE SUPPORT
Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS) is targeted to multiple disciplines, including EMS, hazmat and public health. Teaching to multiple disciplines simultaneously contributes to a commonality of approach and language that should improve care and coordination in an emergency.

BDLS is a daylong course approved for 7.5 hours of Category 1 PRA credit by the American Medical Association. The curriculum includes the DISASTER paradigm, natural and manmade disasters, traumatic and explosive events, nuclear and radiological attacks, biological events, chemical events, the public health system and the psychosocial aspects of disasters. Certification in BDLS requires course completion and a passing score on the competency exam. To maintain these credentials, renewal training is required every three years.