The entire Gulf Coast region is reeling from the effects of the worst oil exposure in US history.  As scientists and first responders battle the onslaught of oil on the beaches and throughout the fisheries and marine worlds, health professionals are responsible for issues related to the oil spill and human exposure.  Conference faculty will discuss toxicological effects of crude oil and dispersants as well as routes of exposure through inhalation, dermal contact and ingestion through seafood.  Measures to keep seafood safe will be discussed.

The potential use of a Radiation Dispersal Device (RDD) remains one of the most likely weapons of mass destruction American citizens are likely to experience.  Their emerging implications make it necessary for communities, regions, and states to know how to react effectively to the challenges of low dose exposure.  Program faculty will address some of the principle challenges in doctrine, operational models, personnel, training and community preparedness which will become critical elements in public health planning in the 21st Century.

The Management of Epidemic Disease

Population growth, societal aging, urbanization, rapid transportation, economic interdependence, and emerging infectious disease have expanded community vulnerability far beyond what could have been imagined a few generations ago. But, an expansion of medical technology has provided an array of tools and techniques for therapeutics and public health disease management never before imagined. The instructor will examine disease as a social event in an evolving global community and discuss why applying new systems and science is critical for tomorrow’s public health professional.

Succession Planning for Public Health Agencies

In this course, the instructors will discuss the public health workforce shortage as well as succession planning, a key element in addressing that shortage.

Facilitator Training

In this course, the instructor will introduce methods and strategies used in facilitating meetings, workshops, tabletop exercises, and other events.

Burn Evaluation and Care for Emergency Responders

According to United States Fire Administration data, in 2007 fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.  Approximately 10,000 people in the United States die every year because of infections that complicate burns.  While burn injuries are common in the United States, specialized burn centers often lack the capability to care for large numbers of burn victims.  For this reason, improved initial evaluation, triage and management of burn injuries can significantly impact victim outcomes.  These tasks are most commonly performed by emergency responders and first receivers (paramedics, nurses and physicians).  This course will raise the overall burn care expertise among participants and prepare these individuals to respond to public health threats and burn-related emergencies.

Alternative Standards of Care in Disaster

Emergency events and disasters require the affected population to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances including an often abruptly limited scope of public health services.  Optimization of outcome requires all available resources to be preserved, coordinated and focused so as to optimize community response in dealing with the normal ongoing needs of the stricken and spared populations, the special disaster-related needs of the population at risk and the special needs encountered by populations with special vulnerability.

Alternative standards of care will allow a community adapting to the hierarchy of needs of the population at risk to streamline and simplify the support process during arduous circumstances so as to maximally preserve life.  The development of rational "fall-back" positions preserves a rational process with accepted outcomes.  This permits effective prevention to drive resiliency into a preparation for emergency action which defines personnel, logistics and communications requirements enabling the most effective consequence management and leading to early, effective and coordinated recovery.  Guiding the integration of alternative standards into the public health system as a component of preparedness involves articulating the best amalgam of current technology and available resources capable of a robust and reliable outcome.

Prevention based management, broad based community planning driving integration of interests and resources across the broad range of interests and potentially responding agencies, is a critical step in advancing beyond the existing operational inadequacies, stovepiping and ineffective coordination of recovery based management.

Other Training Opportunities:

Master of Public Health (MPH) in Disaster Management

Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Environmental Health Sciences

A new program in Disaster Management is being offered by Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Environmental Health Sciences.  This program is offered both on campus and by distance learning through the Center for Applied Environmental Public Health (CAEPH).  Students may obtain either a graduate certificate or the full MPH in disaster management.  The Tulane CAEPH distance learning programs are geared to mid career professionals.  CAEPH uses state-of-the-art synchronous distance learning technologies to enhance learning and networking. 

For more information on the MPH program, please visit:

http://dl.caeph.tulane.edu or send an email to DLinfo@tulane.edu or call 1-800-862-2122.

Master of Public Health (MPH) in Public Health Preparedness Management and Policy

University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization & Policy

This specialized degree covers all hazards preparedness topics including, event typologies, response organization, leadership and management, hazard and risk assessment policy development and evaluation and risk communication.

Public Health Preparedness Management and Policy Learning Objectives

• Describe the economic, legal, organization, and political underpinnings of the US health system with regard to preparedness

• Apply principles of management, finance, accounting and strategic planning in health care organizations with regard to preparedness; and

• Apply basic planning and management skills as well as risk assessment policy development and evaluation and risk communication necessary with regard to preparedness

For more information on the MPH degree, please visit:

https://www.soph.uab.edu/node/1213

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Public Health Management

University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization & Policy

The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program in Public Health Management prepares current and future public health leaders and research faculty to apply critical thinking and rigorous research methods to complex problems facing public health practitioners and policy makers.  The program focuses on public health management, organization, and leadership issues and allows students to specialize in preparedness management and policy or any of the other public health disciplines: biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, or health behavior.

For more information on the DrPH degree, please visit:

https://www.soph.uab.edu/node/1214

Preparedness Minute Videos

Preparedness Minutes are video clips describing actions to take in emergency situations, whether they are at work or at home.  Some of the videos will be reminders, others will present new information.  Ultimately these videos will help you be prepared for an emergency or disaster.  Please visit the link below to watch any of our preparedness minute videos.

Watch Videos

Other Online Courses Available:

Improving Disaster Communication:  The Role of Poison Control Centers in Public Health

Disaster and mass event situations can lead to uncertainty, fear, anxiety and stress.  In these situations, community members need effective and timely information.  Poison centers currently offer advice to the general public and the healthcare system on a wide range of poisonings and toxicological issues.  They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are staffed by specialists who are trained and experienced in handling individuals in extremely stressful situations.

Even though poison centers assume a primary role in poisoning prevention and education, they additionally play a major role in disaster communication, surveillance and public health.  Faculty will present the ways poison control has previously connected communities with vital public health information and the future possibilities of collaborations between public health and poison control.  Recent incidents such as the SARS outbreak and spinach contamination with E. coli highlight the potential role of poison centers in enhancing the public health response to mass events and disasters.

This course will also discuss the potential for public health and poison centers to develop plans for communication and coordination during disasters and mass events.  Through such strategic alliances, public health will be able to quickly provide poison centers with vital information, reliable refer the community to poison center phone lines for essential information, and be able to effectively respond to the event in the field as needed.  NOTE:  This course was originally delivered as a satellite broadcast.

The Pharmacist's Role in Disasters

Hurricanes, tornadoes, bioterrorism, and pandemic flu are all examples of events that create emergencies for the public health system.  Such events have disrupted the lives and healthcare of thousands of individuals and will do so again in the future.  Regardless of the type of event, when such emergencies occur, communities and individuals face real difficulties related to the need to obtain and properly use pharmaceutical products or the need to maintain appropriate pharmaceutical therapies.  Pharmacists serve the fundamental role in our ability, as a society, to initiate a pharmaceutical emergency response where needed, and to maintain appropriate pharmaceutical care for a damaged community.

The broadcast faculty in this session will discuss the changing role of the pharmacist in the public health system as well as the specific roles of the pharmacist during a public health emergency response.  They will also present examples from the experiences of the pharmacy community during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  NOTE:  This course was originally delivered as a satellite broadcast.

Community Partnerships and Perspectives - Basic Level

This course provides an introduction and overview to community partnerships and perspectives series.  It will familiarize you with concepts and skills necessary in working with communities to improved public health.  At various points throughout the course you will be prompted to complete exercises that can be found in the course workbook.

Orientation to the Essentials of Public Health - Introductory Level
 

This course provides a brief history of public health in the US.  It also discusses the guiding principles for those who practice public health.  From the initial three core functions of public health first defined by the Institute of Medicine in 1988 through the current 10 essential services of public health set by the US Department of Health and Human Services.  The expanded role of public health in the times of disasters is also explored.  Examples of current public health initiatives in the Southeast as well as testimonials by current public health employees demonstrates the importance of public health in today's society.

Cross-Border Collaboration
 

The challenges of disaster and emergency planning and the coordination of response increase significantly when the event spans state lines, borders of sovereign Tribal nations, and international borders.  Challenges associated with cross border response range from technical issues such as the compatibility of communications systems to legal issues such as authority and power of responders to the managerial issues of planning, organizing, and controlling the response.  In order to deal with these challenges multi-jurisdictional agreements in the forms of Memorandums of Understanding and Mutual Aid Agreements are often created.  While such agreements are essential to developing the details of collaboration, testing the effectiveness in terms of both substance and form through drills and exercises is necessary and offers additional benefits of strengthening relationships and building confidence among cross-border response organizations.  NOTE:  This course was originally presented as a satellite broadcast.

Quick Links:

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South Central Public Health Partnership
Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health