Advanced Disaster Life Support course provides critical skills, education for ATSU students
Posted: April 18, 2025
A.T. Still University (ATSU) recently hosted an Advanced Disaster Life Support (ADLS) course on its Kirksville, Missouri, campus. The course allowed students in ATSU’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine and Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health, as well as Truman State University students, to prepare for mass casualty incidents.
ADLS provides a comprehensive understanding of the roles played by first responders, government agencies, and hospital staff, helping students recognize where they fit into disaster management as future providers and public health officials. The large-scale simulation offers a firsthand look at the chaos these events create and equips students with skills to navigate and manage such crises effectively.
Participants included the Adair County Ambulance District (lifesaving interventions such as needle decompression/narcan and apparatus and equipment demonstrations), ATSU Campus Security (basic safety and situational awareness), Kirksville Fire Department (man-down rescue carries and apparatus and equipment demonstrations), Kirksville Police Department (first-responder down gear removal), MU-4 Air Evac Team (intubation with PPE and other airways/rescue breaths and apparatus and equipment demonstrations), Northeast Regional Medicine Center (Stop the Bleed training), and Truman Public Health. Additionally, 36 volunteers served as trauma patient actors.
“The 2025 ADLS course was a great success,” said Peyton Grant, OMS II, ATSU Emergency Medicine Club president. “Students were able to learn advanced disaster response strategies and put practical skills into action through a mass casualty simulation. We are so grateful for all of the volunteer instructors, community agencies, community members that volunteered as patient actors, Truman State University’s Public Health Department, and our very own ATSU faculty members, Lisa Archer, BSN, RN, and Christy Fenton, who made this event possible.”
