The Florida Center for Public Health Preparedness

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The Florida Center
for Public Health Preparedness

"Preparing the public health workforce to protect the public against current and emerging health threats, including bioterrorism"

FAST Foundations Online Course (Disaster Behavioral Health First Aid Specialist Training)

Below you will see the course work associated with the FAST Foundations program. The sample learning schedule and course syllabus information can be located on page 10 of the Course Overview (see link below).
FAST Foundation Online Modules
Course Overview	Download .pdf
This section provides the participant with a detailed overview and description of the Disaster Behavioral Health First Aid Specialist Training (FAST) Foundations Course and the related instructional materials. It reviews the course requirements and offers the participant instructions on how to successfully complete the course.

Independent Study Guide (Includes Study Questions)	Download .pdf
The Independent Study Guide contains a series of study questions developed to reinforce the main content and key concepts in the course manual. The participant should answer all study questions in the Independent Study Guide.

Course Manual: Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide (2nd Edition) (includes 3 Sections & Appendices)	Download .pdf of entire manual
The Disaster Behavioral Health First Aid Specialist Training (FAST) Foundations course manual, Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide (2nd Edition), contains three main sections.

Section 1: Introduction and Overview.	Download .pdf of Section 1 only
Section 1 defines and describes Psychological First Aid, and presents its goal, strengths, basic objectives, professional behaviors, general delivery guidelines, and specific guidelines for working with children, adolescents, older adults, and survivors with disabilities.

Section 2: Preparing to Deliver Psychological First Aid.	Download .pdf of Section 2 only
Section 2 offers recommendations to the PFA provider for entering the emergency management setting, providing services, working in group settings, maintaining a calm presence, being sensitive to culture and diversity, and being aware of at-risk populations.

Section 3: Psychological First Aid Core Actions.	Download .pdf of Section 3 only
This section is comprised of 8 sub-sections. It provides an overview of each of the 8 Core Actions, and the goal(s) and key tasks related to each of the Core Actions.

It is recommended that the participant take a break after each section to think about and more fully process the material. Later, the knowledge the participant gained in the course can be applied to the participant’s functional role and responsibilities in disaster response work.

Appendices (Optional)	Download .pdf of all Appendices only
In addition to the three main sections and the 8 sub-sections, there are 6 appendices that complement the content in the course manual. Even though the information contained in the appendices is not essential to meeting the course requirements and is not included in the learner assessment, it is highly recommended that the participant review and become familiar with the material in the appendices.

Power Point Presentation (Optional)	Download .pdf
The Power Point presentation is a tutorial of the course content. The presentation slides were developed to reinforce or summarize the main content and key concepts presented in the course manual. Viewing this presentation is optional. However, the slides are a useful study tool to prepare the participant for the learner post-assessment.

Additional Resources (Optional)
Proposed Consensus Core Competencies for Disaster Mental Health	Download .pdf

Bioterrorism & Emergency Readiness Competencies for all Public Health Workers	Download .pdf

IMPORTANT: After reviewing the course content please go back to My FCPHP page.

Look in your ACTIVE course listings for FAST Foundations and take the post-test and course evaluation.

Continuing Education Credits (CECs) are only available for this course if you successfully complete BFASTplusSN or CFAST onsite courses.