Disaster Olympix: a unique nursing emergency preparedness exercise

Abstract

Despite increased disaster preparedness training and funding, healthcare organizations remain ill-prepared. Nontraditional approaches should be a focus of disaster training. We conducted a novel pediatric disaster exercise at a children's hospital. We designed 6 specific exercises comprising Disaster Olympix and piloted a Web-based evaluation survey of the exercise. The mean score of the participants' perception of their Disaster Olympix performance was 3.8/5. The mean score of the perception of the utility of Disaster Olympix was 4.3/5. Novel training approaches can be valuable to staff. Nonpediatric hospitals can readily adapt this approach to prepare for pediatric victims.