SPH 559 Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective Online Course: Spring Semester 2008

Overview:
Events of this decade have clarified the need for preparedness education and training around issues related to bioterrorism and disaster response, specifically a new role for public health workers in community response activities. This course focuses on the role and responsibility of the Public Health response to all hazard events including emerging infections and terrorism.

Objectives:
At the completion of the course students should be able to:

• fully understand how Public Health needs to be fully integrated into a disaster response
• understand the challenges associated with the unique nature of various types of disasters

This web-based course requires reading Public Health Management of Disasters: The Practice Guide, by Linda Young Landsman, DrPH, MSW, is taught by Dr. Robert G. Westphal, MD, MPH and is graded Pass - Fail

For more information and to request permission number, please contact Colleen Signer: csigner@uamail.albany.edu

Phone: 518-486-7921

SPH 559 Emergency Preparedness Description

CPHP Nat'l & Int'l Conference Attendance/Presentations

135th Annual Public Health Association Meeting in Washington DC (2007)

Craig McMillan, Training Program Coordinator at the Center for Public Health Preparedness will be presenting a poster entitled Emergency Responders and Health Behaviors related to Personal Protective Equipment. The presentation focuses on identifying factors that influence First Responder decision making regarding respiratory mask use and recommending educational pathways to increase the use of Personal Protective Equipment. Co authors on this presentation include Dr Janine Jurkowski from the University at Albany School of Public Health, Dr Michael Dailey from Albany Medical College and Dr Robyn Gershon from Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health

Lindsay Benson, Public Health Educator at the Center for Public Health Preparedness will presenting her talk Veterinarians as partners in public health preparedness:Qualitative and Quantitative Needs Assessment Results, will focus on the emergency preparedness training needs of veterinarians and describe strategies for partnering with veterinarians to improve public health preparedness. Co-authors of this presentation include Dr Elizabeth Ablah from the University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita, June Beckman-More a MPH candidate with the University at Albany School of Public Health and Dr Kristine Gebbie with the Columbia University School of Nursing

International Meeting on Emerging Disease and Surveillance 2007 (Vienna, Austria) was sponsored by the International Society for Infectious Diseases and drew 800 attendees from 48 countries. Dr. Westphal presented a poster entitled Biological Weapons Nonproliferation in the United States, co-authored by Dr. Ray Zilinskas of the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Dr. Stephen Morse, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. In addition to poster presentations, 17 plenary sessions were offered on a variety of topics, including emerging zoonoses, animal reservoirs, vector-borne diseases in animals and humans, agents of bioterrorism, and the World Health Organization’s revised international health regulations. Disease surveillance was also discussed at length from a variety of perspectives, and considered multiple targets, tools, mechanisms and interlocking networks. Of particular interest was information shared about new systems developed by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the Canadian Global Public Health Information Network, the European Commission’s EDEN project (Emerging Diseases in a changing European ENvironment), and ProMED Mail (online program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases). Click here for details.

California Distance Learning Conference 2007 (Lake Tahoe, CA)
Lindsay Benson, UA CPHP Public Health Education Specialist delivered a presentation entitled Pandemic Preparedness: Building Capacity through Online Learning, focusing on the Preparedness & Community Response to Pandemics online course that she developed in partnership with the UAlbany Professional Development Program Instructional Technologies Unit. Since its launching in September 2005, over 9,000 individuals from across the U.S. and international locations have registered for the course. Click here for details on the conference and click here to view detail or register for the online course.

Emergency Preparedness for Veterinarians - 8/06 Training DVD and Archived Webcast Available

The University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness, with support from the New York State Capital District Veterinary Medical Society, offered a program funded by the New York Consortium for Emergency Preparedness Continuing Education entitled “Emergency Preparedness: Preventing Zoonotic Disease Transmission” on August 2, 2006. Presenters included Dr. Bryan Cherry, Public Health Veterinarian for the NYS Department of Health, Dr. David Chico, Emergency Preparedness Veterinarian for the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets and Dr. Robert Westphal, Director of the UAlbany Center for Public Health Preparedness. Program topics included the incident command system, the impact of zoonotic disease on human populations, factors that promote disease transmission, veterinarians’ roles in disease outbreaks and agents of bioterrorism.

Seventy-five veterinarians, licensed veterinary technicians, and Community Animal Response Team members attended from 11 counties in upstate New York. Based on the program evaluation, all participants found the training to be valuable in increasing their knowledge of the topics presented.

A free copy of this program is available on DVD. To order, please visit http://tinyurl.com/td6qu.

This program is also available via webstreaming. To view, please visit http://www.informz.net/ualbany-sph/event.asp?eid=2095

Center Broadcast on Special Populations receives Bronze Telly Award

The University at Albany Center for Public Health was awarded a bronze Telly Award for the January 2006 satellite broadcast/webcast, entitled Katrina: Planning for Special Needs Populations!

Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions. Since 1978, The Telly Awards mission has been to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The 27th Annual Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entries are judged on a 10-point scale, with programs receiving a score of 9.0 or higher winning the highest honor of Silver Telly, and those scoring between 7.0 and 8.9 awarded Bronze for outstanding achievement. Click here for more information about the original broadcast and link to archived videostream.

UAlbany CPHP Accomplishments as of February 2007

The University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness continues to provide highly relevant emergency preparedness training, resources, and assistance to public health professionals and their community response partners through a variety of methods, including live and online courses, workshops and conferences, drills and exercises, satellite broadcasts, webcasts and archived videostream files, videotapes and DVDs, as well as technical assistance and evaluation support. The following is a summary of accomplishments made possible by the Center's continued support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and a new partnership with the Western New York Public Health Alliance.

Accomplishments

Over 17,000 public health and other community response partners (physicians, pharmacists, veterinarians, law enforcement, first responders, public health students, etc.) from all 50 states, as well as international locations (1,279 international learners to date) have registered for the Center’s self-paced, interactive online courses as of February 1, 2007. A sample of courses follow:

• Terrorism, Preparedness and Public Health: An Introduction (successfully completed by 4,712 individuals). “It is one of the best CME courses I have ever taken. The context level was perfect and acted as a refresher course as well as introducing new material.” (Clinical Specialist, San Diego State University Institute for Public Health)
• Preparedness and Community Response to Pandemics (successfully completed by 3,493 individuals, over 1,000 of whom reside in New York State). The Center is currently in partnership with USAID in Bolivia to develop a Spanish script of the course to be accessible through our website and the US NAVY requested material to complement in-house training for their physicians and nurses. The course is posted on the CDC influenza training website, making it accessible to public health professionals nationwide, and it has been adapted into a print version for CE Source - a continuing education journal for Radiology Technologists.
• Personal Preparedness (successfully completed by 100 individuals since the January 2007 launch) “Hospitals are required by their HRSA grant deliverables to educate EVERY employee about personal preparedness. I think this course could very well satisfy (or help to satisfy) that requirement.” (Director of Emergency Preparedness, Upstate NY Hospital Association)
• Emergency Preparedness Training for Hospital Clinicians (successfully completed by 700 individuals) “The comprehensible yet specific overview of what medical professionals will likely encounter/be asked to do in the event of an emergency… helps me in my role as an Emergency Preparedness (EP) coordinator who oversees the EP of such personnel. It was simple and understandable, much more helpful than the ICS 100 course as it was specific to healthcare.” quote submitted via anonymous evaluation – thought it would work given reference to professional title
• HazMat Transportation Accidents: Using the Emergency Response Guidebook (successfully completed by 179 individuals since the January 2007 launch) “Excellent course. Hope there will be more in the future that can be utilized by Emergency Management professionals.” ditto note above
• Working in a Point of Dispensing (POD) (successfully completed by 727 individuals) “I think the whole training was very useful. I will be utilizing this within our Health Dept and MRC units as part of our training program.” ditto above

Over 10,340 certificates and continuing education credits have been issued for successful completion of these courses to date. Other national organizations have promoted and utilized material from our courses, including the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO), New York State Emergency Management Office (NYSEMO), Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS), World Health Organization (WHO), Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), USA Prepare, National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (NERRTC), Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA), and the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Now in its fourth year of monthly satellite broadcasts/webcasts, the Center reaches over 4,600 viewers across 50 states and international sites each month. (Multiple Canadian sites view regularly and other sites occasionally, including U.S. military bases/territories in Guam and the Virgin Islands, India, Fiji, Uganda, Sweden and Australia.) In addition, many academic, state and federal distance learning systems further disseminate our programs, including:

• Department of Defense Medical Interagency Satellite Training Program (357 sites)
• University of Alaska Television (57 sites)
• California Community Colleges Satellite Network (109 sites)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte Broadcast Communications (UNCC-TV is accessible by 350,000 households in the Charlotte-area, including 25,000 students at UNC Charlotte, and many thousands more from multiple other colleges and K-12 schools)
• Veterans Administration (covering three work shifts across four time zones)
• Florida Distance Learning Satellite Network (187 sites)
• University of Tennessee Outreach Center's Telehealth Network (98 sites)
• Adirondack Area Network (45+ sites).

Archived videostreams have received over 19,000 hits to date and the Center has distributed more than 6,600 videotaped copies.

The Center provides other training, resources and technical assistance to local public health professionals and their community response partners on a variety of preparedness topics, including:

• Drills and exercise design, implementation and evaluation (reaching 10 upstate New York county public health departments to date)
• Chemical and radiological awareness training (reaching 175 in-class participants to date)
• Communicable disease/bioterrorism training (reaching 132 in-class participants in 2003; currently collaborating with the NYS DOH to develop and conduct state-wide training to be held in 2007)
• Pandemic influenza training and resources

The Center develops, delivers and supports graduate level study and research related to emergency preparedness, including:

• The Certificate Program in Public Health Surveillance and Preparedness (15-credit graduate)
• Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective
• Special Topics in Public Health Preparedness
• Emergency Preparedness in Schools

For similar information about each Center within the national CDC-funded network, visit the ASPH website under the link for accomplishments.

Certificate Program in PH Surveillance & Preparedness open for enrollment at the UAlbany SPH

The Certificate Program in PH Surveillance and Preparedness requires the completion of 15 graduate course credits. Courses are offered online and in-class, and include:

EPI 501 Principles and Methods of Epidemiology I* (online and in-class)
EPI 605 Infectious Disease Epidemiology (in-class)
SPH 559 Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective (online)
SPH 559 Topics in Public Health Preparedness (in-class)
EHT 590 Introduction to Environmental Health* (online and in-class)

*Master of Public Health (MPH) core courses (6 credits) that may be applied towards an MPH

To obtain the certificate, each student must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher and file an application for Certificate completion within four years of admission.

Note: Students can take a maximum of two courses before applying and being admitted into the program. Course waivers can be obtained only through prior approval. There is a transfer credit limit of one course (3 credits). Students who are enrolled in a School degree program and would like to pursue the certificate degree can do so if they fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.

For more information, please contact Shadi Saleh, PhD MPH, Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator at ssaleh@albany.edu

NYS Capital District College & University Flu Planning Meeting 7/19/06

Why do Universities Need to Plan for Flu?

• Influenza pandemics may arrive with very little warning 
• Outbreaks may occur simultaneously throughout much of the U.S., preventing the sharing of human and material resources
• It is estimated that 1.9 million Americans could die and over 10 million could be hospitalized in the event of a pandemic
• There is no FDA approved vaccine available for the strain currently circulating in Asia, Europe and Africa
• Antivirals currently stockpiled would treat less than 5% of the U.S. population; manufacturers estimate that it would take 5 years to augment the supply to an adequate level needed during a pandemic
• International travel will greatly contribute to the spread of a pandemic; 2 million international passengers arrive at NYC airports each month

The Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady County Health Departments, with support from the University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness brought together representatives from the NYS Department of Health, NYS Education Department, University at Albany School of Public Health and university and college staff involved in emergency planning to discuss the importance of, specific issues related to, and resources currently available for flu planning for universities.

In attendance were representatives (i.e., health & safety and health center personnel) from the College of St. Rose, Hudson Valley Community College, Maria College, RPI, Schenectady County Community College, Siena College, The Sage Colleges, Union College, and the University at Albany. Each institution shared plans to schedule future meetings with their respective health departments, as well as with other schools in close geographic proximity. The larger group also plans to meet before the end of the calendar year. 

Current resources regarding flu planning for universities accessible at http://www.cshema.org/resource/pandemic0306.htm

UAlbany School of Public Health offers a 3-credit graduate level online course entitled Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective.

This fall, the UAlbany School of Public Health is offering a 3-credit graduate level online course titled Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective.

Read PDF for more details

Over 6,400 public health professionals have registered for the online Preparedness & Community Response to Pandemics course.

Since its official public release in September 2005, over 7,100 public health professionals and their response partners have registered for the online Preparedness & Community Response to Pandemics course. The course has reached participants from all 50 states and international locations, including 750+ individuals from New York State. In addition, over 2,521 registrants have received continuing education credit for successful completion of the course.

You can register and find more about this course here.

Along with our archived webcast, Avian Flu: State, National & Worldwide Response, originally aired on September 08, 2005, it is also currently being featured on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention avian influenza webpage under News & Highlights.

University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness Testifies on Flu Preparedness before New York State Senate Committees

Peter Levin, Dean of the University at Albany School of Public Health, and Robert Westphal, Director of the University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness, gave testimony before New York State Senators Balboni and Hannon at a joint hearing of the New York State Senate Committees on Health and Veterans, Homeland Security, and Military Affairs. Kristine Qureshi, Assistant Professor of Community Health Nursing at Adelphi University School of Nursing (affiliated with the Center through the HRSA-funded New York Consortium for Emergency Preparedness Continuing Education), also testified.

During the hearing, entitled “Surge Capacity and the Avian Flu: Can New York’s Healthcare System Meet the Challenge?” Drs. Levin, Westphal, and Qureshi testified about the importance of many factors, including communication, ethical issues, and the role of the community.

More details about the hearing

Testimony of Peter J. Levin, ScD, MPH
Testimony of Robert G. Westphal, MD, MPH
Testimony of Kristine Qureshi, RN, DNSc

Online Course Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective

Preparedness planning has been an essential but often overlooked aspect of Public Health. Events of this decade have clarified the need for preparedness training around issues such as bioterrorism and have emphasized a new role for public health workers in community response activities. This course will serve as an introduction to the knowledge, skills and competencies needed by public health staff in being prepared for these new concerns.

This graduate level course is being offered online this fall and will run from August 29 - December 14. It will address topics such as public health law (quarantine and isolation), the Incident Command System, drills & exercises, elements of the community response, surveillance of infectious diseases, community mental health, risk communication, natural and intentional biological agents, chemical and radiological concerns, industrial hazards, and creatures of pandemics such as SARS and influenza.

Prerequisites include EPI 501 and EHT 590, or permission of Instructor. Preference will be given to students at the University at Albany School of Public Health and local health department personnel. If you are interested in taking this course and are not enrolled in the University at Albany, please contact Lindsay Benson at lbenson@uamail.albany.edu. Please direct any questions regarding this course to Lindsay Benson as well.