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Disaster Life Support (CDLS/BDLS/ADLS)

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Firefighters train in a mock disaster exercise.

Vantage Point Consulting has partnered with The National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLSF) to offer Disaster Life Support Training and Certification. We can provide training on-site or at our location in central Indiana.

Core Disaster Life Support (CDLS)

Who this course is for

Broad audience including medical first responders, health professionals, health service providers, public health workers and health support personnel.

What you’ll learn

In partnership with National Disaster Life Support Foundation (NDLSF), CDLS is a 3.5-hour competency based and awareness level course introducing clinical and public health concepts and principles for management of disasters and public health emergencies

  • Understand essential components of federal, state, regional and community disaster health systems including the role of public and private health sectors.
  • Describe elements of the D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm and their application for management of disasters and public health emergencies.
Read Course Description

The Core Disaster Life Support® (CDLS) course is a 3.5-hour competency-based and awareness-level course that introduces clinical and public health concepts and principles for the management of disasters and public health emergencies. This course incorporates the “all-hazards” approach to personal, institutional, and community disaster management through the use of two unique mnemonics, the PRE- D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm™ (which applies to event mitigation and preparedness) and the D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm™ (which applies to event recognition, response, and recovery).

The goal of the CDLS course is to provide participants from diverse professions, disciplines, and backgrounds with a common lexicon, vocabulary, and knowledge base in disaster-related medicine and public health. This knowledge can be reinforced and expanded in the BDLS® and ADLS® courses. The CDLS course is for a broad range of audience categories, including medical first responders, health professionals, health service providers, public health workers, and health support personnel.

Upon completion of the CDLS course, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the all-hazards approach to disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery
  • Discuss essential components of federal, state, regional, and community disaster health systems, including the role of the public and private health sectors
  • Describe the elements of the PRE-D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R.Paradigm™ and their application to the management of disasters and public health emergencies
  • Describe actions that can be taken to enhance personal preparedness and resilience for disasters and public health emergencies
  • Identify legal and ethical issues that impact disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, including the basic legal framework for public health
  • Describe the elements of the D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm™ and their application for the management of disasters and public health emergencies

For more information on CDLS pricing and scheduling, please contact us.


Basic Disaster Life Support (BDLS)

Who this course is for

Targeted to emergency medical service (EMS) personnel, hazardous materials personnel, public health personnel and health care providers.

What you’ll learn

Reviews “all-hazards” topics including natural and accidental human-made events, traumatic and explosive events, nuclear and radiological events, biological events and chemical events.

  • Ability to utilize the D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm.
  • Understand the S.A.L.T. methodology for sorting patients in a mass casualty event.

You may also need to know

CDLS is helpful, but not required before taking this course.

Read Course Description

BDLS® is targeted to multiple disciplines including emergency medical service (EMS) personnel, hazardous materials personnel, public health personnel, and health care providers. The goal of teaching multiple disciplines at the same time is to develop a commonality of approach and language in the health care community, improving the care and coordination of response in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) disasters, and public health emergencies.

The BDLS® course is a review of the “all-hazards” topics including natural and accidental human-made events, traumatic and explosive events, nuclear and radiological events, biological events, and chemical events. Also included is information on the health care professional’s role in the public health and incident management systems, community mental health, and special needs of underserved and vulnerable populations.

The recognition and management of the disaster scene and victims are reinforced through a unique approach, introduced in the Core Disaster Life Support Course called the D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm. This approach helps the student to organize and prepare a response to disaster management.

The paradigm emphasizes an “all-hazards” approach to mass casualty incident management and facilitates’ ongoing qualitative and quantitative assessment of an incident.

The mass casualties triage system used in BDLS® and the other NDLS™ courses employ the S.A.L.T. methodology. Id-me! Is a simple mnemonic for sorting patients during triage of mass casualties, and it is used effectively in the S.A.L.T. Triage model. A detailed discussion and application of these assessment tools are reinforced throughout the BDLS® course.


Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS®)

Who this course is for

Targeted to emergency medical service (EMS) personnel, hazardous materials personnel, publi health personnel and health care providers.

“First, this was a great class, and kudos to you and your team for being approachable, with a clear, informative, and relatable class.  Second, your class space was comfortable, with enough room for completing the functional portion of ADLS. Third and most importantly, the biggest thank you is for the person allowing us to participate.  Because of that, there are two new ADLS professionals.

Additionally, we met some fantastic people, and have added them to our network.

— William Taylor RN, MetroHealth Medical Center Project Specialist

What you’ll learn

Two-day course that allows students to demonstrate competencies in casualty decontamination, specified essential skills, and mass casualty incident information systems/technology applications. Makes use of four interactive sessions.

  • Four interactive sessions.
  • Hands-on training with practical skills.
  • Use of protective equipment.

You may also need to know

The BDLS course is a pre-requisite for this course.

Read Course Description

ADLS® is an advanced practicum course for those who have completed the BDLS® course. It is an intensive, two-day course that allows students to demonstrate competencies in casualty decontamination, specified essential skills, and mass casualty incident information systems/technology applications. Using simulated, all-hazards scenarios and mass causality incidents, ADLS® makes use of four interactive sessions in which participants treat simulated patients in various disaster drills and situations. Training is focused on the development of hands-on skills to allow participants to apply the knowledge learned in BDLS®.

ADLS®’s interactive scenarios and drills utilize high-fidelity mannequins and volunteer patients to simulate a realistic experience in treating pathologic patient conditions not routinely encountered by the responders and health care providers.

Day 2 of ADLS® is the “hands-on” day of training. Hands-on exercises teach practical skills, such as decontamination and use of protective equipment, and provide instruction in topics that traditionally are not addressed in health care education curricula. Four skills stations reinforce the previous day’s learning. These skills stations are as follows:

  • A.L.T. Triage– This challenging station allows students to practice the concepts of the D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R. Paradigm™ with an emphasis on patient triage. Simulated disaster victims must be triaged and treated correctly while attempting to manage a chaotic scene and request appropriate resources.
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Decontamination– This station teaches important concepts about the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and decontamination techniques. Students are given the opportunity to wear PPE and participate in a simulated decontamination while attempting to render medical care.
  • Disaster Skills– This station teaches vital skills necessary for medical disaster Students learn about the Strategic National Stockpile and proper Mark-I kit use. Students are also allowed to practice Smallpox immunization.
  • Human Patient Simulator– Recognition of victims of a chemical and biological disaster is paramount. This station is designed to reinforce the detection and proper treatment of conditions that may occur during disasters that we do not usually Treatment of chemical, biological, and traumatic patients is covered. The use of high-fidelity human patient simulators allows the student to see, hear, and feel information that would typically be provided by an instructor, creating a more realistic experience than standard mannequins can provide.

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