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DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness Newsletter |
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Upcoming Courses | |
Bookmark the Learning Center for the upcoming courses schedule with dates and locations as they become available: http://delvalle.bphc.org.
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This 8-hour course addresses assessment of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards and use of Level C Personal Protective Equipment. Learn the limitations of wearing air-purifying respirators and the importance of adhering to required policies and procedures...
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This three-day, 24-hour course provides awareness and operations level training for responding to weapons of mass destruction and/or hazardous materials incidents in health care settings. Through classroom and hands-on activities, participants will learn to recognize hazards, respond defensively, and effectively isolate, decontaminate and manage contaminated patients...
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Applying the Incident Command System (ICS) to Your Healthcare Emergency Response NEW Offering!
August 1, 2012
This 3.5 hour course provides an overview of HICS and applies the components in a practical and useable manner. In addition, the course reviews recommendations for establishing an effective Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and specifies how critical emergency planning efforts are interlinked... | |
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NEW Course! August 9, 2012
This course will provide individuals involved in continuity of operations (COOP) planning in healthcare institutions with a framework, processes, recommended strategies, best practices, and templates to apply to their organizational and departmental COOP plans...
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This five-day, 40-hour course provides awareness and technician level training for responding to weapons of mass destruction, toxic industrial chemicals and/or CBRNE hazardous incidents that create health and physical risk to response personnel...
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This 6-hour course will provide ESF 8 supporting agencies with a framework for the consideration of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in shelter planning and operations as outlined by FEMA guidance issued in November 2010...
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Various Dates
Learn what it means to be a Boston MRC volunteer! Orientation prepares you to volunteer in an emergency or at a special event such as the Boston Marathon. Successful completion of this course enables you to take advanced MRC training programs. |
The delivery of these courses is supported through grant funding from (1) U.S. Department of Homeland Security Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Homeland Security Grant Program, (2) the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Program, and (3) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement. Please visit the course(s) of interest for more information on target audiences or click here to learn more about funding. |
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Emergency Preparedness News, Updates and Affiliated Trainings | |
Disaster Preparedness Facebook App
The bReddi Facebook application was introduced at June's Health Data Initiative Forum III: The Health Datapalooza. The application helps individuals prepare for natural disasters and other emergencies. It allows users to manage their preparedness needs, from designating lifelines to determining meeting places to inventorying supplies for an emergency kit. The application provides users with their own geographic threat levels, and geographic threat levels for their lifeline connections. For more information: www.breddi.com
Cyber Capabilities Tabletop Exercise
Following in the steps of the National Level Exercise 2012, FEMA has made a Cyber Capabilities Tabletop Exercise available for download. The materials are complete with facilitator's notes and scripted video injects and are designed to "increase understanding of cyber threat alerts, warning, and information sharing across sectors." To download the materials, visit www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=5949
Americans Are Indifferent Toward Disasters, Survey Says - Varied Communication Methods Key
How many communication methods is your agency using to alert the public about emergencies? According to a recently released survey, probably not enough. Although 2011 was widely reported as having a record number of emergencies, Americans remain complacent. Less than one-half of people surveyed said they would take action based on a severe weather warning. Federal Signal's 2012 Public Safety Survey painted a grim picture of Americans' readiness and their knowledge of emergency alert systems in their communities.
Despite the investments made by emergency management and public safety agencies in alerting and notification systems, a majority of respondents (71 percent) said they were unsure if their area has such a system, identifying a need for continued communication and education by emergency managers and other public safety officials. According to the survey, communication from a local alert notification system would motivate the most people to prepare (36.2 percent) followed by a radio/TV public service announcement (30.6 percent); community warning siren (20.9 percent); communication from friends and/or family members (7.7 percent); reading news online (2.6 percent); and for some, no notifications would have an impact (1.9 percent).
An important survey finding was that people want to validate the information they receive before acting on it. Therefore, the recommendation is to use a "layered approach: using many warning systems to spread the message through numerous communication channels. For more information on the survey:
Boston All Hazards - All Stakeholders Summit 2012 This year's Boston All Hazards - All Stakeholders Summit will be held on August 9th at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. This session will provide guidance on creating a coordinated system of preparedness, response and recovery inclusive of partnerships among emergency management, law enforcement and the whole community. This presentation will discuss practices on inclusive planning to ensure the needs of people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs are met before, during and after a disaster. The City of Boston's Mayor's Office of Emergency Management Acting Director, Rene Fielding, will be a featured presenter among others. The summit is only open to public-sector employees. For additional details and registration information visit www.emergencymgmt.com/events/Boston-All-Hazards-All-Stakeholders-Summit-2012.html |
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Focus on the DelValle Institute | |
 Supporting the DelValle Institute Staff - Focus on Sejal Vashi, Emergency Preparedness Educator
Sejal Vashi is the emergency preparedness educator responsible for course development, delivery, and management. Course development at the DelValle Institute is a demanding process. It requires not only training and curriculum development experience but the ability to conduct scholarly-level research, design courses appropriate for adult learners, identify additional resources and multimedia to support key messages, and survive peer review. Sejal negotiates all of these elements adeptly.
Sejal functions as the training lead for the Boston Medical Reserve Corps (BMRC) working in conjunction with the BMRC Coordinator in the Office of Public Health Preparedness. In this capacity, she designs curriculum and ensures that BMRC training content is relevant, engaging and prepares volunteers to assume vital roles in emergencies. She also organizes the yearly BMRC training calendar.
A day with Sejal might find her immersed in curriculum planning, researching content for a course, scheduling a video interview with a local expert, ensuring continuing education credits are prepared and submitted, and assisting colleagues with managing the DelValle Institute course templates. Sejal chaired the Institute team on developing these comprehensive templates per FEMA National Training and Education Division standards.
Sejal facilitated the design of two new Institute courses this past year: "Shelter Operations and Functional Needs Support Services" and "Continuity of Operations Made Practical". "Shelter Operations" received excellent reviews following its pilot program; "Continuity of Operations Made Practical" will be piloted on August 9th at the Institute. For all of this hard work we are enormously indebted to Sejal for her persistence, creativity, and keen intellect.
In her spare time, Sejal loves to travel and is a ready volunteer herself, from serving as a Big Sister to supporting numerous Boston EMS planned events and responses. This past spring, Sejal completed the Boston EMS EMT training program - a grueling regime of 170 evening and weekend hours: She received the highest scores in the class. The DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness is pleased to have such a talented and skilled staff member on board.
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The Institute has great partners in emergency preparedness trainings for public health and healthcare providers in Massachusetts:
Additionally, we leverage the knowledge and expertise of programs in Boston EMS and the Boston Public Health Commission:
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DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness
785 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118
Phone: (617) 343-1370 Fax: (617) 343-1121
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Boston EMS, the provider of emergency medical services for the City of Boston, is committed to compassionately delivering excellent pre-hospital care and to protecting the safety and health of the public. The DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness is a program of Boston EMS, a Bureau of the Boston Public Health Commission.
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