Overview

In this simulation, the learner will assume the perspective of various public health professionals responding to a natural disaster. They will make decisions on behalf of a county public health director, a public health nurse, an environmental health specialist, and other public health professionals. By approaching the emerging public health issues from these perspectives, the players gain a deeper understanding of the issues at hand, the decisions that colleagues in other disciplines face, and how those decisions impact his or her area of expertise.

This simulation focuses on the application of public health response and recovery principles related to the following topics, but is not intended to provide a thorough foundation in these topics:

• Incident Command System
• Risk Communication
• Food Safety
• Disaster Mental Health
• Disaster Preparedness

Your voluntary participation in this simulation will provide data for an evaluation of how individuals respond to a simulated emergency.

The Simulation

Disaster in Franklin County: A Public Health Simulation consists of 14 chapters occurring over the first 30 days following a severe storm striking the fictional community of Franklin County.  In its entirety, the simulation takes approximately 45 minutes to complete.

In this simulation, the learner will:

• Identify public health concerns resulting from the simulated natural disaster.
• Apply risk communication principles to public health concerns associated with the simulated natural disaster.
• Correlate characters’ attributes to roles within the Public Health Incident Command System.
• Describe the primary roles in an Emergency Operations Center.
• Choose appropriate actions within the simulated scenario to minimize risk associated with food safety.
• Describe the roles of public health disciplines within the simulated disaster.
• Identify at least two individual knowledge gaps associated with the simulated scenario.
• Integrate learnings about the public health response and recovery of other public health disciplines into future disaster planning.

Continuing Education

This program offers 0.75 hours (0.075 CEUs) of participation in a structured continuing education experience. Upon completion of Disaster in Franklin County you will be presented with a post-survey and a post test. After passing the post-test you will be able to print a certificate of completion.

Registration

Online registration is free!  Go to https://cpheo1.sph.umn.edu/fcs/ and follow the instructions.  You will be required to use an email address to verify your account. 

Group Facilitator's Guide

Although Disaster in Franklin County was designed for individual use on a personal computer, it also offers many opportunities for enhanced learning through group discussion. The Group Facilitator's Guide provides instructions for conducting group activities where group participants learn from each other in addition to learning from the online simulation.