In recent years, the increasing number of mass casualty incidents (MCIs) – human-made disasters – has prompted a renewed focus on developing disaster preparedness plans and competency-based instruction and training for healthcare teams. Disaster simulation training is an effective and efficient mechanism to prepare healthcare teams through active learning to optimally respond to mass casualty incidents. In September 2022, the University of South Florida (USF) Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) and Center for Emergency Medical Education (CEME) have launched a Mass Casualty Incident Training (MCIT) hybrid course aimed to equip emergency department providers – in both urban and rural environments – with critical thinking and rapid decision-making strategies in team-based simulation training. The data from the pre- and post-course surveys have suggested an increase in clinical confidence level of the healthcare providers who participated in online and on-site activities.

Learning Objectives

• – Examine two modalities of the Mass Casualty Incident Training (MCIT) course at USF Health CAMLS.
• – Discuss effective educational strategies in developing critical thinking and rapid decision-making in MCIT.
• – Discuss the increase in learner’s confidence in preparedness response and recovery from mass casualty incidents.