This document outlines the objectives, assignments, grading, and schedule for a Disaster Medicine and Management course. The main goals are for students to learn about disaster drills, exercises, and assessments. Students will work in groups to plan and conduct a disaster simulation exercise, and will write an after action report and improvement plan following an on-campus simulation week. The course involves online discussions, FEMA trainings, and group projects completed over 15 weeks.

1. Disaster Medicine and Management
Course Objectives:After completion of this course the student will be able to:Describe the
rationale for disaster drills, simulations and exercisesIdentify and describe the components
of a disaster drill or exerciseIdentify what constituencies and agencies should participate in
an agency disaster drill or exerciseContrast tabletop exercises, control post exercises and
field exercises, and describe the components, advantages, disadvantages and appropriate
utilization of each (Emphasis on Building Block approach)Describe the post-exercise
assessment processIdentify how often disaster drills and exercises should be repeated,
incorporating educational learning strategies and assessments.Using a team approach,
develop a disaster simulation drill/ exercise that could be used by an agency or
institution.Describe real world experience including the September 2015 Papal visit and the
2015 Amtrak derailment after hearing from people who were directly involved.Discuss the
basics of his/her capstone project.Grading & Evaluation:Weekly Assignment DB Postings
(6): 18 points (3/wk)Planning Documents – Seminar& TTX 25
pointsFinal Drill Project (AAR, IP) 15 pointsIS-
120,130,775 12 points (4 points each, one point deduction for
each submission after posted deadline under Assignments; no credit if submitted >10 days
after deadline)Chats (2) 15 points (7.5
each) Participation: 15
pointsTotal: 100 pointsGrade: A= 93-100, A- =90-92,
B+ = 87 – 89, B = 83-86, B- = 80-82, C+=77-79, C = 73-76, C- = 70-72, F = < 70Weekly
Assignment Postings: Students will complete the weekly assigned readings and lectures,
and answer the assigned questions. The answers should be at least 150 words in total for
all questions in that Discussion Board and should be posted in the appropriate weekly
module area. You must respond to at least twoof your classmate’ s postings on the
Discussion Board each week; this should be relevant and at least 75 words. Credit for the
week’ s Discussion Board requires both personal responses to Discussion Board questions
and response to classmates’ postings.Note also that you should review your entire thread
before the deadline for the week. You must make sure that you have read every response to
your post. Specifically, you MUST answer any question posed by faculty. There will be a
deduction for failure to answer.Faculty will assign students to Alpha Group and Bravo
Group. Each group will be assigned specific DB questions. All members of each group will
answer questions assigned to their group. However, each member of the group will
respond to the DB postings of the members of the other group. This will allow each of you

2. to delve more deeply into your specific questions as well as benefit from the work done by
others.Answers to each week’ s Discussion Board questions must be posted no later than
2359 of the Friday of the respective week. Responses to postings by at least twodifferent
classmates must be posted by 2359 of the Sunday for that week. All Discussion Board
grades are based on a published rubric posted under Course Documents.You will notice that
beginning in Week 2, you will be working with “ Exercise Simulation System Document”
(AKA Liberty County) documents. Although the Discussion Board questions are limited to
specific IS 139 Units, all students are expected to communicate regularly with group
members regarding group work assignments. That may be done via email, Facetime, Skype,
Adobe Connect etc.*NOTE – The grade for this project is based on individual
participation. That includes group chat attendance and assistance in development of the
exercises. Each group will have a faculty member who will serve as a mentor /
advisor. That mentor should be part of the discussions whenever possible.*Many students
type their answers in Word so they may retain a permanent file. If you choose to do that,
please copy and paste your response into the discussion board rather than attach the
file.*Please also note that the professors serve not only as educators but also as
facilitators. As such we direct you to resources and provide feedback. However, it is
critically important that you also read your classmates’ postings. You will learn much from
their efforts and analysis of data.Complete IS 120a, IS 130, and IS 775. Each unit requires
approximately several hoursof work on your part. You should be able to complete the three
courses in less than 12 hours. Additionally, all students must take the final exams for IS
120A, IS 130, and IS 775 posted on the FEMA site. These certificates should become part of
your emergency management portfolio.Please Note -Eachcourse is a specific assignment.
You must complete IS 120 before beginning course work in week 1. IS 130 and IS 775
should be done by the end of week 1. There is a deadline for each in the Syllabus; there is a 1
point penalty for missing that deadline. Email PDFs of certificates to Dr. Parrillo.We will use
IS 139 for much of the course work. This IS course is no longer available, but the Syllabus is
in Course Documents.Everyone must register for IS 300 before registering for 639. The
course must be complete before the on-campus week that begins on July 16.That FEMA
course is intensive and is not available online. DMM faculty will provide a review of 300
during the on-campus week.Participation: Participation in all aspects of the on-campus
seminars, tabletop and field exercises ismandatory to pass the course. Points will be
awarded based on the level of involvement and contribution to the daily
activities.Accountability during on-campus week: Everyone will be responsible to complete
IS Form 214 each day of the week. One person will complete a FEMA sign-in sheet for the
class. This process replicates what would happen in a real-life situation. The form must be
turned into the faculty each morning for the previous day’ s activities. On the last day, the
form must be turned in at 5PM.Demonstrations of competency – During the semester,
faculty will require that all students demonstrate competency in the following
areas:Development and use of an HVADevelopment of a discussion-based exercise –
SeminarDevelopment of a Tabletop ExerciseDevelopment of an after action report (AAR)
and improvement plan (IP)Adult education principlesDevelopment and use of an incident
action plan (IAP)Use of standard IS formsUse of the ICS structureUnderstanding FEMA’ s

3. role in emergency managementNetworking with disaster professionalsUse of the HSEEP
toolkit and LLIS resourcesDisaster Exercise Project: Students will be assigned to groups. All
students will get an electronic copy of FEMA’ s Exercise Simulation System
Document. Group leaders / facilitatorswill coordinate assignments based on the various
pieces within that document. That project will be a “ work in progress” during the first six
online weeks and will be discussed and evaluated regularly. Liberty County documents
(found in Resource Room / Course documents) contain the inventory of all resources
available to you. Use only the resources found within Liberty County. There will be
designated submission times during the 8 weeks prior to arriving on campus. This project
will be graded.Note – There are two parts to this assignment. Each group will develop both
a seminar and a tabletop exercise. Each group facilitator will coordinate assignments and
follow progress. However, everyone MUST do the assignment designated. It is not the
facilitator’ s job to all parts of the exercises.Specifics for the assignment are in Topics of
Study. Each group has individualized instructions.Final Project – Following the on-campus
week, all students will prepare and submitboth an AAR (After Action Report) and an IP
(Improvement Plan) for the exercise that their group developed and conducted. Follow the
guidelines in IS 139 and the HSEEP Toolkit. Use HSEEP forms for the AAR and IP.Deadline
Summary – See week to week Organizer for due dates. Discussion Board EtiquetteIn
order to be educational to the entire group, please share from the perspective of providing
details of your experience that has led to the critical thought process you have reached. A
dialogue is helpful – the learning process encourages challenging thinking based on
literature and critical review. In order to do this, allow others to share their thoughts and to
ask questions. Professionalism needs to be maintained – respect needs to be conveyed in
your postings. Bickering is not acceptable – in fact drains the value of the
discussion. Academic IntegrityAcademic Dishonestysuch as cheating on an examination or
plagiarism will result in the grade of “ F” for the course, and may also result in further
disciplinary action such as referral to the University Student Conduct Committee and
possible program or university dismissal as outlined in the PhiladelphiaUniversityStudent
Handbook and the DM&M Student Manual. The Gutman LibraryThe home page of the
Gutman Library provides students with a variety of information resources, including
databases and research guides. Librarians are available online and in person at the
information desk to help students with research. www.philau.edu/library The Learning
and Advising CenterThe Learning and AdvisingCenter provides one-on-one tutoring
assistance for writing, study strategies, test taking, and specific PhiladelphiaUniversity
courses. To make a tutoring appointment, students should stop by the Learning and
AdvisingCenter in Haggar Hall or call (215) 951-2799. Academic resources, including
information on citation and documentation, note taking, and study strategies are available
on the Center’ s website. http://philau.edu/learning/index.htm Technology AssistanceFor
assistance with technology issues, students should contact the TechnologyHelp Desk at
(215) 951-4648 or send an email to http://philau.edu/oit/helpdesk/contact.htm. General
purpose computing facilities are available in Search Hall and Gutman
Library.http://www.philau.edu/OIT/ Access “ Atomic Learning” to do tutorials on software
you are not familiar. Digital Media ResourcesMaterial for the online portion of the class will

4. be found in Blackboard with numerous links to additional online resources and
organizations. Certain material will be placed as PDF files to ensure access by all
students. ERES will also be utilized for access to articles.