Medical Disaster Management Course Syllabus
COURSE TITLE: Medical Disaster Management
COURSE OVERVIEW: The course is a part of the Bachelor of Science Health Sciences degree program,
Allied Health concentration.
INSTRUCTOR: Daniel Hahn, MA, CEM
CONTACT INFORMATION: dhahn@uwf.edu or 850.393-9841
PREREQUISITES OR CO-REQUISITES: Those interested in this course or the Bachelor of Science in
Health Sciences program should contact Mr. Steve Celestial at 850-474-2885 or scelestial@uwf.edu.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:This course introduces students to various facets of natural and technological
disasters, while integrating public health research designs and practices. Class lectures and discussions
utilize recent and historical case studies as a basis for developing the critical thinking and leadership skills
needed by healthcare professionals in crisis situations. International, domestic, and regional settings are
addressed, as well as the social, economic, and political aspects of disaster planning, preparedness, and
mitigation. Students gain an understanding of basic public health concepts and methodologies, as they
relate to course material.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (Objectives):The Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences is an
interdisciplinary degree involving six independent academic units at UWF. The Academic Learning
Compact (ALC) that is applied in this program will depend on the track chosen by the student and will be
determined by the unit under which the student is enrolled (Psychology, Health Care Ethics, Computer
Science, Social Work, the College of Business, or Communication Arts).The course meets the following
core goals for the B.S. in Health Sciences degree program:
 Content and Critical Thinking
o Students will recognize basic principles of public health as they relate to disaster
management.
o Students will be able to apply critical thinking and decision making skills for given disaster
scenarios.
o Students will identify and use appropriate concepts, theories, and principles towards the
development of disaster preparedness and mitigation plans.
 Communication
o Students will be able to use written language professionally and effectively.
o Students will be able to communicate in a knowledgeable and well-versed manner with
others in their field, regarding disaster management.
o Students will be able to discuss issues of disaster management in a clear, concise, and
easily understandable manner with the general public, mass media outlets, and
government officials.
o ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE FORMATTED USING APA
FORMAT. Grammar, spelling and punctuation do count towards your grade.
Fulfillment of these goals will be assessed through course exercises based on pertinent lecture and
reading materials and written assignments.
TOPICS COVERED:
Overview
The primary purpose of this course is to prepare students for effective participation in disaster planning at
the local level. Health care workers, public health providers in particular, play a variety of roles in crisis
situations. Lectures and readings serve to expose students to the dynamics of disaster management, as
a basis for positive and influential future leadership.
Tentative Course Schedule
 An Introduction to Disaster Management
 Public Health Review
 Natural and Technological Disasters
 Interdisciplinary Disaster Planning
 Community Level Preparedness
 Disaster Mitigation and Post-Event Response
 Risk Communications
 Environmental Health Degradation
 Mental Health Challenges of a Disaster
 Monitoring and Evaluation of Recovery Efforts
A more detailed class schedule, including reading and other assignments, will be made available the first
week of class.
REQUIRED TEXTS:All required readings will be available online.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS (not required but good resources):
Brinkley, Douglas. The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Harper Collins Publishing, 2006.
Chabner, D. Medical Terminology: A Short Course. 3rd Edition. W.B. Saunders Company, 2002.
Heymann, D.L.., editor. Control of Communicable Diseases Manual. 18th Edition. Washington, D.C.:
American Public Health Association, 2004.Landesman, LY. Public Health Management of Disasters: The
Practice Guide. 2nd Edition. Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association, 2005.Landesman,
LY. Public Health Management of Disasters: The Pocket Guide. Washington, D.C: American Public
Health Association, 2006.
SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED BY STUDENTS: (beyond baseline requirements of e-mail and
word processing)
 Basic understanding of Microsoft Powerpoint
 Students must be able to conduct Internet research
REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHYN/AGRADING/EVALUATION:
Participation (Discussions)
200
pts.
Written Assignments
500
pts.
Term Paper
300
pts.
Written Assignment:
Each student will be required to write five bi-weekly papers discussing subjects covered in class.
Additionally a final term paper on a public health subject will complete the writing assignments. Each
paper will be written utilizing APA format.
Examinations:
A final term paper combined with five separate writing assignments will constitute a majority of the grade.
The following grading scale will be used to determine final grades:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
F
93
90
87
83
80
77
73
70
67
63
0
EXPECTATIONS FOR ACADEMIC CONDUCT/PLAGIARISM POLICY:
 Academic Conduct Policy
 Plagiarism Policy
 Student Handbook
It is the philosophy of the University of West Florida that academic dishonesty is a completely
unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic
dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may
include suspension or expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to
cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in
whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give
unfair advantage to a student, or the attempt to commit such acts. In addition, any behavior that interferes
with the conduct of a class is classified as disruptive behavior and will not be tolerated. Plagiarism
detecting websites will be used as often as possible to detect plagiarism.
ASSISTANCE: Students with special needs who require specific examination-related or other courserelated accommodations should contact Disabled Student Services (DSS), dss@uwf.edu, 850-474-2387.
DSS will provide the student with a letter for the instructor that will specify any recommended
accommodations.
QUALITY ASSURANCE This course is reviewed during the semester and in an ongoing basis for quality
by assessment personnel within the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences (SAHLS) to meet national
standards established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Council on Education for
Public Health, and/or to address quality enhancement initiatives of SAHLS. Student feedback is also vital
to this process. When reviewing our programs, our accrediting partners expect to see 100% participation
in the State-of-Florida mandated SUSSAI (State University System Student Assessment of Instruction)
evaluations. Thus, at the end of the semester, we need to hear from the folks that enjoyed the class and
from the folks that have suggestions for improvement (ok, and from the folks that want to fill out the
survey as quickly as possible with no comments to share!). BUT, we do need to hear from each and every
student in this class, and we value your input. When SUSSAI evaluations are ready for you to complete,
you will see a News posting in the course. If you need assistance with the evaluations, please contact
Connie Works at (850) 474-3080 or cworks@uwf.edu.
Please be assured that all evaluations that are completed online are of a confidential matter. Your name,
student number, and e-mail address will not be revealed to your instructor, department, or college. Only
one evaluation per course per student can be submitted. Please do not delay completing the
evaluation when the time approaches. Due to the significance of this information, I will not be able to
pre-release grades in eLearning if we are not close to the 100% participation goal before finals
week. Thank you!
ONLINE TEST TAKING GUIDELINES Please do not begin any timed, online exam in the course that
may overlap with the eLearning maintenance window. The eLearning maintenance window runs 3:006:00 am CST (Central Standard Time) each day. If you initiate an exam that overlaps with this time and
experience any technical errors, your recorded score is likely to be close to 0 for such an attempt. There
are no exceptions to this policy. If you experience any other technical problems or errors during any timed
exam that does not overlap with the eLearning maintenance window, you are required to notify the
Helpdesk immediately at helpdesk@uwf.edu or (850) 474-2075. Failure to contact the HelpDesk to report
the problem will result in a grade of 0 automatically being assigned. If you are unable to get immediate
assistance from the HelpDesk during the exam, but have documented the problem in an email or voice
mail, you may attempt to restart the exam using the same browser, or attempt to re-enter the exam with
another browser. If you are still unable to restart the exam and continue with saving, please note that for
your final submitted score to be recorded, you MUST still prove that you documented the original
technical problem with the HelpDesk via helpdesk@uwf.edu or (850) 474-2075. Failure to do so will result
in an automatic grade of 0 being assigned.