Emergency Management | Online Education & Training

Below are recommended education and training opportunities that are applicable for Community Health Centers as you continue to build and implement emergency plans.

Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH)        

• Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response:  This section includes several tools that provide support to CHCs in the development of emergency plans and programs. 
• Smallpox
• Work Plans:  Examples include plans and planning guidance on “mass prophylaxis” and “crisis communication” compatible with standard ISDH guidelines.
• Pandemic Influenza: Available is a “tool kit,” as well as checklists for families, schools and businesses.  Also included is Indiana’s comprehensive plan in PDF format on pandemic influenza.
• Training:  ISDH routinely posts upcoming web-based and on-site training programs on a variety of topics related to public health/health care and emergency management.

Indiana Mid-America Public Health Training Center (MAPHTC)
Focuses on a variety of public health and health care education and training initiatives, including those oriented toward emergency management.

• This site includes a calendar that announces upcoming training programs. Many/most of the events are at no cost or require only a minimal fee.  Another popular educational program is the MAPHTC Public Health Cafes, conducted monthly at the MAPHTC offices, 714 N. Senate Street, Indianapolis.  The Café sessions are generally held on a week-day morning, include refreshments and present attendees with the opportunity to network with other professionals. 

University of Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness   
The University of Albany is recognized for its program of relevant and timely offerings on emergency management in health care and public health. The programs are also archived and can be accessed later or can be purchased as videotapes.

A May 10, 2007 web-cast, available through the site’s archives, is entitled “Integrating CHCs into Community Response.” 

Yale University Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response
Yale offers a series of on-line courses on “emergency preparedness topics for public health, hospital and health care workers.  The web-based courses are available at no cost to the user. The Yale site includes some courses that would be of tremendous interest to CHC staff members.  A course on “mental health” would be of interest to CHC social service staff members and other clinicians.  Another course of particular interest to many CHC staff members (particularly clinicians) is “Small Victims; Big Challenges,” an offering on pediatrics and emergency response. 

Department of Veteran Affairs / George Washington University Partnership 
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Emergency Management Strategic Healthcare Group (EMSHG) is the recognized national leader in emergency management in health care. 

• One comprehensive source is the “Emergency Management Program Guidebook,” a compendium of doctrine, guidelines, standard operating procedures, etc. for hospitals and community-based outpatient clinics. 
• Another posted source, developed collaboratively with George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), is the “Emergency Management Principles and Practices for Healthcare Systems.”  This particular resource includes many components which can be used for modular training.  The resources are compatible with current doctrine on NIMS, surge capacity and capability and other important concepts.

Center for Domestic Preparedness, FEMA/DHS
The CDP, located at Anniston, Alabama, provides on-site, realistic, emergency management didactic and hands-on/exercises and training in a variety of subjects, and for targeted audiences. 

• The health care component contains the only mock health care training site, Noble Training Facility, in the country.  Courses are offered throughout the year.  Most courses are four days in length.  For most students, the costs of travel, tuition, on-site lodging, transportation and meals are defrayed and are paid by FEMA/DHS. 
• Current courses that may be of interest and applicable to CHC personnel include:  “Fundamentals of Health Care Emergency Management”;  “Health Care Leadership and Decision Making”; “Pandemic Influenza Planning and Preparedness” and “Healthcare Emergency Response Team Training”. 

National Association of Community Health Centers   
NACHC provides members with information on relevant emergency management education and training, and includes such offerings in NACHC’s annual conferences and periodic web-casts or teleconferences.  An example of a NACHC-sponsored web-cast is a recent one on “Pandemic Influenza Planning for Health Centers.”  Sessions such as this are periodically announced (and free to members) and can also be accessed from archived sessions. 

The Association of State and Territorial Health Organizations (ASTHO)
ASTHO hosts an annual conference and periodic additional conferences and forums.  Many of the attendees represent State/territorial public health officials, but also represent those in leadership roles at public health and health care organizations. 

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
NACCHO hosts an annual public health summit in early spring in Washington, D.C.  Many issues addressed are those that are of interest to local public health and health care organizations.  The Summit has increasingly included sessions that are applicable to CHCs and emergency management. 

National Emergency Management Summit

Held in early spring in Washington, D.C., this Summit is announced as the “leading forum on disaster, epidemic, and terrorism planning, response and recovery.”  Of late, the conference has featured sessions by and for PCAs and CHCs in their quest in building emergency management programs.

National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) 
T he NDMS conference is held each spring at a different location/city each year.  Sponsored by the partnership of FEMA, HHS, VA and Department of Defense, the conference is highly attended by the health care, public health and emergency medical response community.  Of late, more and more CHC and other primary care participants have become involved in the conference and have presented at both pre-conference and main conference forums.

Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Online Learning Management System
The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and the Indiana Mid-America Public Health Training Center have developed a curriculum of courses and core competencies designed to help the public health workforce be prepared in the event of a bioterrorism event or other emergency.  The course offerings below were selected by the Indiana Primary Health Care Association for their specific focus on the preparedness training of community health centers.  Courses will allow the participants to assess and increase personal competency, improve professional development, and assist in CHC emergency preparedness planning.   

Overarching topics deemed relevant include crisis leadership, management of mass fatality incidents, continuity of operations, multi-agency coordination, National Incident Management System compliance and functions, and an introduction to Incident Management Systems for health care operations.

Follow the links below for course descriptions and objectives.  For further information on ISDH’s Learning Management System (LMS), or to expand knowledge beyond the recommended courses, visit the program website at http://www.inlms.com/Public/default.aspx

For more information about this program, please contact:
 
Jenifer Nelson
Emergency Management Program Director
Indiana Primary Health Care Association
Phone: (317) 630-0845
Fax:     (317) 630-0849
jnelson@indianapca.org