On May 23, more than 200 students from Orvis School of Nursing and the School of Public Health participated in an emergency management simulation exercise coordinated by Organizational Resilience. The inaugural tabletop exercise, Interprofessional Care 2023 TTX, was designed to build critical skills for future health professionals in emergency management, interdisciplinary collaboration and team management.

As part of the hands-on exercise, students ran through a series of simulations where, as an interprofessional team, they created a Unified Command System in a hospital setting and rural community. Students practiced developing incident objectives, completing an Incident Action Plan and preparing a public information message.

“Students found the activity as an engaging opportunity to think about disaster preparedness,” Associate Professor & AGACNP Track Leader at Orvis School of Nursing, Jacqueline Ferdowsali said. “While we often don’t want to think about these terrible accidents and mass causality events, the reality is that in healthcare we are the first responders and people rely on us to help. Providing students with the knowledge and skills to step into these roles in future situations is important for our communities.”

“Collaborative training events like these are crucial to any level of disaster preparedness. The very nature of public health is prevention and preparedness, and I’m thrilled to see our students gaining the important hands-on experience necessary to help keep our communities safe,” School of Public Health Dean, Muge Akpinar-Elci said.

The University worked with community partners at the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority (REMSA), Washoe County Health District, Washoe County School District, and a certified emergency management instructor for the State of Nevada to develop and deliver the training exercise.

“As far as we know, this is the first emergency preparedness exercise of its kind at the University. The involvement of the Orvis School of Nursing, the School of Public Health as well as several community partners strengthens the community's ability to plan for, prepare for, and help to mitigate public health emergencies,” School of Public Health, Undergraduate Program Director, Jim Bellamy said.

Organizational Resilience plans to deliver exercises like this annually, with the intent of expanding student participation in the future.