Introduction: Disasters place considerable stress on systems. The role of laypersons in disasters cannot be overlooked. A course was developed by Disaster Volunteer Corps, Singapore General Hospital, for laypersons, focusing on principles of basic disaster management and interventions. The course included scene safety, triage, emergency communications, and basic lifesaving procedures. Emergency physicians supervised emergency medicine residents and trained medical students who conducted the sessions. This paper focuses on the feedback from the pilot conduct of the course. Methods: The course was delivered over two phases; Phase 1 was delivered online. Phase 2 was delivered in person, culminating in a simulated mass casualty incident. Course feedback was sought through an online form. Descriptive statistics are used to display the quantitative feedback while grouped thematic feedback is presented for free text feedback. Results: 35 laypersons participated, with 24 providing feedback. Prior to the course, 50% rated their own skills and knowledge as “Poor”. Post-course, the majority of them rated themselves as “Good”, with a minimum rating of “Acceptable”. This shows that the course provided basic knowledge and skills for responding to an MCI. Participants noted that: i) course objectives were clear; ii) audio and visual aids and doctor-medical student pairs facilitated an effective learning experience; iii) facilitators were “knowledgeable” and provided “useful feedback and advice”. The duration of the course was deemed suitable by most participants. Participants also fed back that they would seek opportunities to upskill. The overall rating of the course was high, with all participants receiving either a “Good” or “Excellent” rating. All participants would recommend the course to others. Conclusion: The positive feedback received and the improvement in the knowledge of participants highlight the success of this pilot program. Given the demand by laypersons keen on applying themselves in basic disaster response, more work needs to be done in refining this course model for future conduct and expansion.
Yeong et al. (Sun,) studied this question.