New Online For-Credit Course: Emergency Preparedness in Schools: Prevention, Response, and Recovery

(October 1, 2004) -- The School of Education and the Center for Public Health Preparedness in the School of Public Health have collaborated to create “Emergency Preparedness in Schools: Prevention, Response, and Recovery,” a course to train educators and public health professionals to manage disasters in schools. Dr. Amanda Nickerson, assistant professor in our school psychology program and Dr. Robert Westphal, Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness will co-teach the course for the first time in Spring 2005 as an online class through the SUNY Learning Network. It is open to school officials, public health professionals, parents and others interested in the subject.

This interdisciplinary graduate level course will address concerns over terrorism threats to schools, as well as the rising concern among parents and educators over one of the nation's most alarming scenarios: students with weapons. (In the Capital Region, students, teachers and administrators are still struggling to deal with the trauma of such a scenario. On Feb. 9, 2004 a 16-year-old student entered a local high school with a pump-action shotgun and opened fire in a hallway.) “Emergency Preparedness” will cover such topics as legal and ethical issues in emergency preparedness and response, diseases and bioterrorism, natural and industrial disasters, creating safe and healthy schools, and the development of comprehensive school crisis plans. It will also include the specific psychosocial crises of violence and child abuse.

“I am thrilled that UAlbany's School of Public Health and the School of Education are working together on this important project,” said Nancy Persily, associate dean in the School of Public Health. "The schools at Ground Zero were confronted with many challenges on September 11 and afterwards. We saw then that preparing administration and teachers adequately for a whole host of crises should be a top priority. And just recently, we saw a crisis in our own community at Columbia High School. It just reinforces the fact that our two schools should work together to respond to these events."

Due to the inherent interdisciplinary nature of public health, a 2002 report from the Institute of Medicine urged the nation's schools of public health to strengthen interaction with other professional schools on campus. The collaboration between UAlbany's schools of public health and education represents a unique alliance focused on combating mounting public health fears in primary and secondary schools. The graduate level course, conceived after the two schools conducted needs assessments, was developed by a planning group of teachers, school administrators, state education officials, state emergency management professionals, and faculty from the schools of education and public health, with input from UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice.

“This new course is designed to help schools meet a multi-faceted problem that can only be solved by tapping a variety of expertise,” said Susan Phillips , dean of the School of Education. “Developing the course has been a rich and rewarding collaboration for our faculty, and we are pleased to be able to join our colleagues in the School of Public Health in helping to address a need of our local communities.”

The course will run January 19- May 3, 2005, and fulfills both the Child Abuse and School Violence Prevention requirements for New York State certification. Non-matriculated students may take the class, which has room for 20.

UAlbany's Center for Public Health Preparedness, one of two such centers in New York State, improves the capacity of the public health workforce to respond to current and emerging public health threats with a focus on bioterrorism and infectious disease outbreaks.

The registration period for this course has ended.

 

UAlbany Center for Public Health Preparedness awarded funding

The UAlbany Center for Public Health Preparedness has been awarded $1 million in funding per year for the next five years by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue serving in the national network of 23 centers to support preparedness training for the public health workforce.  The Center will continue efforts to train the public health workforce and offer educationally-relevant programs related to preparedness issues.

UAlbany SPH MPH graduate Lindsay Benson hired to assist in training and research

UAlbany SPH MPH graduate '04, Lindsay Benson was hired in mid May to assist in training and to conduct research for Center projects.  Research projects and proposals include assessing the preparedness levels of NYS ER staff, public school teachers and nurses, and NYS Public Health Response Teams to determine to what degree school system and public health staffs are integrated into preparedness efforts.  She can be reached by email:  lbenson@uamail.albany.edu or phone:  518-408-2334.

Over 6,000 individuals registered for Terrorism, Preparedness, and Public Health: An Introduction

Since its June 2, 2004 launching, over 6,000 individuals from 50 states and international locations have registered for the six module, interactive, on-line course: Terrorism, Preparedness, and Public Health: An Introduction. In fact, a number of agencies have expressed their intention to recommend the course be completed by all of their employees. The course includes quizzes per module and a final exam, with the option to receive a certificate of completion or continuing education certificate (CEU, CME or CHES). For further details or to register for the course, visit: http://www.ualbanycphp.org/learning/registration/detail_Terrorism.cfm

Basic microbiology course is now available online

A basic microbiology course is also now available online. The module was developed as a prerequisite for the Introductory Microbiology & Communicable Disease module for the Basic Environment Health Course(BEHC), a classroom-based training program offered by UAlbany SPH and the NYS Department of Health. The course provides basic principles in microbiology to help new public health practitioners, including BT Coordinators, who have little or no preparation in microbiology.

Dr. Robert Westphal featured in the July issue of Family and Community Health

The special July issue of Family and Community Health (vol. 27, no. 3, pp.231-233, 2004) is devoted to topics related to public health preparedness. Included is a commentary written by Dr. Robert Westphal, director of the UAlbany Center for Public Health Preparedness, in response to an article concerning the public health impact of global climate change by Dr. James Diaz of LSU.

Dr. Robert Westphal, Clinical Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University at Albany School of Public Health (UA SPH), has been appointed director of the University's Center for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP).

Albany, NY, January 1, 2004—“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Robert Westphal as director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness," said Peter Levin, dean of the School and principle investigator for the CPHP program. "He has worked with us since the inception of the Center in 2002, and has uncommon expertise in understanding the effects of terrorism on a population, as well as the broader implications for the individual and society. He also has the rare mixture of years of experience in scientific aspects of medicine and patient care and involved in issues of terrorism at the state Department of Health, even prior to 9/11. This all adds up to an unbeatable combination of skills to lead the Center.”

Prior to his work at UA SPH and CPHP, Westphal was coordinator of Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Planning for the Bureau of Communicable Disease Control at the New York State Department of Health, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont and senior principal officer of the American Red Cross Blood Services in Washington, DC. He has authored 31 articles and book chapters, as well as 13 published abstracts and 21 major presentations.

"We live in an age in which we should be striving towards global biological security, not just dealing with the most immediate hot button issues on bioterrorism. There is a lot of work to do and I am delighted for this opportunity " notes Dr. Westphal

The mission of the University at Albany Center for Public Health Preparedness is to work with state and local public health professionals in New York and Vermont, their community partners, and other selected state and federal agencies to develop education and training in public health preparedness related to terrorism or naturally-occurring events that threaten the public's health. The Center was established in 2002 with a $1 million grant from the federal government.

Under the guidance of Carol Young, Director of Continuing Education, School of Public Health, University at Albany, the Center began serving its mission in July of 2002 by offering classroom courses, satellite broadcasts, and, most recently, streaming media programs with a broad scope of content. During the first award year the UA CPHP reached over 5,000 public health professionals comprised of over 150 representatives from 41 of 57 NYS counties. The Public Health Grand Rounds Series, a monthly satellite broadcast reaches a national audience, with over 280 sites registered from across 42 states by December of 2003.

"We are currently developing a series of on-line courses geared towards first responders across New York State and a certificate program that recognizes preparation to handle public health surveillance and disaster management" says Dr. Peter Levin.

The Grand Rounds Series will continue with satellite broadcasts on January 22 nd : Bioterrorism and Zoonoses; February 5 th : Addressing Intentional or Accidental Threats of Water Contamination; and March 4 th : Psychological Aspects of Bioterrorism. Registration information is now available and more details to be distributed soon: http://www.informz.net/ualbany-sph/event.asp?eid=192 All broadcasts will be available via video streaming media shortly after they air. Complete program and broadcast information can be found at: http://www.ualbanycphp.org

New UAlbany Course Tackles Public Health Emergencies in Schools.

Contact: Karl Luntta (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. , March 11, 2004— The Center for Public Health Preparedness at the University at Albany School of Public Health and the School of Education have collaborated to create "Emergency Preparedness in Schools: Prevention, Response, and Recovery," a course to train educators and public health professionals to manage disasters in schools.

The interdisciplinary course, offered for the first time in summer 2004, was in part developed to respond to concerns over terrorism threats to schools, as well as the rising concern among parents and educators over one of the nation's most shocking scenarios: students with weapons. It will cover such topics as legal and ethical issues in emergency preparedness and response, diseases and bioterrorism, natural and industrial disasters, creation of safe and healthy classrooms and schools, and development of comprehensive school crisis plans. It will also cover the specific psychosocial crises of violence and child abuse.

"I am thrilled that UAlbany's School of Public Health and the School of Education are working together on this important project," said Nancy Persily, associate dean in the School of Public Health. "The schools at Ground Zero were confronted with many challenges on September 11 and afterwards. We saw then that preparing administration and teachers adequately for a whole host of crises should be a top priority. And just recently, we saw a crisis in our own community at Columbia High School. It just reinforces the fact that our two schools should work together to respond to these events."

Due to the inherent interdisciplinary nature of public health, a 2002 report from the Institute of Medicine urged the nation's schools of public health to strengthen interaction with other professional schools on campus. The collaboration between UAlbany's schools of public health and education represents a unique alliance focused on combating mounting public health fears in primary and secondary schools. The graduate level course, conceived after the two schools conducted needs assessments, was developed by a planning group of teachers, school administrators, state education officials, state emergency management professionals, and faculty from the schools of education and public health, with input from UAlbany's School of Criminal Justice.

"This new course is designed to help schools meet a multi-faceted problem that can only be solved by tapping a variety of expertise," said Susan Phillips, dean of the School of Education. "Developing the course has been a rich and rewarding collaboration for our faculty, and we are pleased to be able to join our colleagues in the School of Public Health in helping to address a need of our local communities."

"Emergency Preparedness in Schools: Prevention, Response, and Recovery" is a graduate level course open to school officials, public health professionals, parents and those interested. Non-matriculating students may attend the class, which has room for 30. UAlbany educators will offer it on an ongoing basis, eventually taking it online to provide greater accessibility to working teachers and administrators.

UAlbany's Center for Public Health Preparedness, one of two such centers in New York State, improves the capacity of the public health workforce to respond to current and emerging public health threats with a focus on bioterrorism and infectious disease outbreaks.

The course will run June 28-August 6, 2004, and fulfills the Child Abuse and School Violence Prevention requirements for New York State certification. Registration for summer courses at the University at Albany begins on March 30, 2004. For questions regarding course registration, call (518) 442-5052.

The New York New Jersey Public Health Training Center announces Orientation to Public Health

January 1, 2004— This web-based one-hour learning experience was designed for support and technical staff in public health agencies and helpful for anyone new to public health practice, the course can be incorporated into routine orientation programs.

Purpose

Designed for support and technical staff in public health agencies and helpful for anyone new to public health practice, the course can be incorporated into routine orientation programs.

Objectives

• Define public health and its obligations.
• Explain how public health differs from health care.
• Give examples of how a local health agency carries out the essential services of public health.

Convenient for busy people

• Web-based
• No charge
• One-hour - Can be completed in 15 minute segments.

Interactive

The course incorporates simulated e-mail messaging, assignment of tasks, simulated interviews, and tests.

Comments from the pilot test

“I enjoyed the conferencing sessions; found them to be very informative and captivating. The review of wrong answers from the tests was very helpful.”

“I was not particularly enthused to review this web-based program. I have used web mediums and have always encountered problems, small and large, that needed to be solved to complete the program. I was extremely impressed with the ease of navigation and lack of 'glitches' while completing the program. . . .”

Take the course. (opens new browser window)