As part of their Public Management 390R class, the City and County of Honolulu Department of Emergency Management recently certified 22 Brigham Young University Hawaii students after they completed 24 hours of training at the DEM facility inside the famous Diamond Head crater, including response to a simulated disaster "final exam."
Professor Brian K. Houghton, who teaches the PMGT 390R Disaster Management class, explained the students and two Campus Security officers completed the course spread over three eight-hour sessions in November. "The students gave up three Saturdays to become Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security's Citizen Corps program," he said. "I was very impressed with their dedication."
Houghton pointed out the CERT simulation included "search and rescue of a building after a mock earthquake. That was done in complete darkness, with fake smoke, a lot of noise, and plenty of casualties to attend to. The BYUH contingency took over the command, triage and first aid teams, as well as provided the 'victims' [pictured at right and below]. The DEM instructors were very impressed with the group, and everyone had a great time."
Janelle Cabacungan, a sophomore political science major from San Diego, California, who is also BYUH Student Association Executive Vice President, agreed the training was worthwhile and fun. "I liked being able to save my classmates [during the simulation]," she said. She added that her father works in emergency preparedness back home, "and he wants me to go around and tell people about ii...to realize you can be younger and still be prepared."
Another student — José Alfredo Orellana Silva, a senior political science major from Guadalajara, Mexico — said he took the course for the impact it would have on his résumé, and was pleasantly surprised to find the training was fun as well as valuable. "I really liked that we were able to put all the things we learned into practice." He added when he returns to Mexico he plans to possibly study international relations and/or go to law school. Before then, he hopes to fill an internship with the Mexican embassy in Australia.
"I recommend this class to everyone," Orellana added, "no matter what your major is. It's very valuable."
Professor Houghton said the course is also "the most hands-on one I've ever seen. The students really love it. By the third Saturday they came back laughing and having a great time. Some of them were covered in fake blood, they were crawling around in grubby circumstances, with thick smoke and their flashlights in the dark. It was literally hands-on the entire time."
"Within public management, one of the important areas is public safety in law enforcement and emergency management," he continued. "Every business or public sector has to think about what they are going to do if a disaster strikes, and how to manage during those times. So, I try to teach management principles in the setting of disaster, before it takes place — planning, managing resources, training; when it takes place and recovering afterwards. A lot of the management principles are relevant in any sector."
Houghton said the course, which is usually offered in Fall Semester, also teaches cooperation. "They work as a team in triage, leadership and medical, for example. They follow what's called incident command where they have a specific leader giving them instructions. They also work in a partnership buddy system. Not only do they learn individually, but they learn to operate as a group, so it's a great team building exercise."
:: Watch video clips at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csEeaqpvmuA
— Photos by Brian K. Houghton: