Sources said 24 nurses from AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and some private hospitals in the city have signed up for the four-month course.

Nurses from the United States, who are specialists in emergency care, will train the participants.

“Nurses form a huge resource pool. They are usually the first to attend to patients in disaster situations. Considering the volume of patients, doctors cannot attend to all,” Nirmal Thakur, chairperson of Academy of Clinical Emergency Nursing (ACEN), said. ACEN is organising the course.

Training on the basics of trauma care and understanding medical protocols for patients suffering from shock, strokes, toxicity and multiple trauma injuries will be imparted during the course.

Dr Sagar Galwankar, a Mumbai-based specialist who started a similar course for doctors in 2009, said the concept of emergency nursing “is new in India”.

“Globally, nurses are sharing the burden with doctors. We are trying to equip our staff to do the same. Mass casualty situations can be highly confusing and unnerving. The nurses need to quickly identify patients needing urgent care, administer emergency care and act as coordinators. This requires specialised training,” he said.

He said this was an attempt to bridge the knowledge gap between doctors and nurses.

The first batch of trained Indian specialists in the discipline will graduate next year from NHL Municipal Medical College, Ahmedabad, and BJ Medical College, Baroda, after the Medical Council of India (MCI) recognised emergency medicine as a postgraduate discipline in 2009.