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05/09/2002
Disaster Relief Nurses train for biological attack
As President George Bush contemplates the case for war against Iraq and reports of a US military build up in the Middle East gather apace, at least one ally in the 'war against terror' will be preparing for disaster.
For tomorrow Draperstown will be the scene of the largest ever disaster simulation exercise where nursing students will be placed at the centre of a mock biological weapons attack.
Organised by the University of Ulster’s (UU) Disaster Relief Nursing course and local healthcare trusts, the training day will attempt to create a Northern Ireland that has been struck by biological warfare, forcing thousands to flee to camps for displaced persons in the countryside.
Actors, UU nursing students and members of the public will be brought to the field hospital suffering from conditions such as anthrax inhalation, burns, head fractures, gunshot wounds, influenza, psychological distress and separation anxiety.
A camp has been set up near the Rural College, Draperstown, manned by 50 nurses from the UU’s Disaster Relief Nursing programme and emergency care nursing staff from across Northern Ireland is close by.
Conditions will replicate as closely as possible those in a disaster situation. Nurses will act exactly as they would if faced with a real bio-terrorist threat.
The exercise will be staggered so that there will be a steady influx of patients as well as “emergency scenarios”, which will involved high numbers of casualties being rushed in en mass.
Pat Deeny, Course Director of the Disaster Relief Nursing Programme at UU said: “The idea is to gauge how the emergency nursing services would cope in the case of a biological disaster. Northern Ireland is viewed by other countries as a place well geared to coping with disaster, this exercise however will assist participants to evaluate how ready we really are.
“We have students from a national and international background training on this course who will go on to become nursing leaders within the world’s disaster zones. "We aim to produce some of the most capable and highly trained nurses in the world when it comes to dealing with disaster relief.”
Earlier this week the first-ever nurses with a postgraduate qualification in Disaster Relief Nursing graduated from the programme at a ceremony in Magee.
(GMcG)
For tomorrow Draperstown will be the scene of the largest ever disaster simulation exercise where nursing students will be placed at the centre of a mock biological weapons attack.
Organised by the University of Ulster’s (UU) Disaster Relief Nursing course and local healthcare trusts, the training day will attempt to create a Northern Ireland that has been struck by biological warfare, forcing thousands to flee to camps for displaced persons in the countryside.
Actors, UU nursing students and members of the public will be brought to the field hospital suffering from conditions such as anthrax inhalation, burns, head fractures, gunshot wounds, influenza, psychological distress and separation anxiety.
A camp has been set up near the Rural College, Draperstown, manned by 50 nurses from the UU’s Disaster Relief Nursing programme and emergency care nursing staff from across Northern Ireland is close by.
Conditions will replicate as closely as possible those in a disaster situation. Nurses will act exactly as they would if faced with a real bio-terrorist threat.
The exercise will be staggered so that there will be a steady influx of patients as well as “emergency scenarios”, which will involved high numbers of casualties being rushed in en mass.
Pat Deeny, Course Director of the Disaster Relief Nursing Programme at UU said: “The idea is to gauge how the emergency nursing services would cope in the case of a biological disaster. Northern Ireland is viewed by other countries as a place well geared to coping with disaster, this exercise however will assist participants to evaluate how ready we really are.
“We have students from a national and international background training on this course who will go on to become nursing leaders within the world’s disaster zones. "We aim to produce some of the most capable and highly trained nurses in the world when it comes to dealing with disaster relief.”
Earlier this week the first-ever nurses with a postgraduate qualification in Disaster Relief Nursing graduated from the programme at a ceremony in Magee.
(GMcG)
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Nurses to learn more about bio-terrorism
The University of Ulster has announced that one of the nurse training courses offered is to be expanded to include clinical aspects of bio-terrorism. As part of the disaster relief course, the University is to increase the content of the bio-terrorism training given to nurses in the wake of the anthrax outbreak in the US.
02 September 2004
University stages disaster simulation exercise
The University of Ulster has helped showcase a disaster simulation exercise to show how nurses would cope in the face of a bio-chemical attack in the province.
University stages disaster simulation exercise
The University of Ulster has helped showcase a disaster simulation exercise to show how nurses would cope in the face of a bio-chemical attack in the province.
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Overseas nurses recruited to fill NI shortfall
The Royal College of Nursing has said that the shortage of nurses in Northern Ireland hospitals has forced health officials to try to recruit staff from abroad. Latest figures from the College revealed that one in every 16 nurses in the province is from outside the British Isles.
Overseas nurses recruited to fill NI shortfall
The Royal College of Nursing has said that the shortage of nurses in Northern Ireland hospitals has forced health officials to try to recruit staff from abroad. Latest figures from the College revealed that one in every 16 nurses in the province is from outside the British Isles.
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Funding of £2.1 million is to be invested in education and training to boost the health service workforce, Health Minister Robin Swann has announced. The package includes 1,335 nursing and midwifery university places for 2022/23, as well as additional medical specialty and Allied Health Profession (AHP) training posts.
13 April 2005
PSNI team heads out for Tsunami relief effort
Local PSNI officers are to travel to Thailand to take part in an international relief operation in the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster. Constable Sandy Boyd is one of eight officers from the PSNI who are going to the resort of Phuket to work as part of a Body Recovery and Identification Team (BRIT).
PSNI team heads out for Tsunami relief effort
Local PSNI officers are to travel to Thailand to take part in an international relief operation in the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster. Constable Sandy Boyd is one of eight officers from the PSNI who are going to the resort of Phuket to work as part of a Body Recovery and Identification Team (BRIT).
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