DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness
September 2014 Newsletter

   
In This Issue...

Celebrate National Preparedness Month: Get Ready, Be Safe, Stay Healthy

● Featured Classroom Courses ● Upcoming Courses ● Online Learning 

● Emergency Preparedness News, Updates, and Affiliated Trainings ● Partners 

CommunityPreparednessCelebrate National Preparedness Month: Get Ready, Be Safe, Stay Healthy
nullSeptember 2014 marks the eleventh annual National Preparedness Month, when local, state, and federal organizations across the nation encourage you to "Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to Prepare" by taking steps to increase the preparedness of your family, community, and workplace. The DelValle Institute, in collaboration with colleagues within the Office of Public Health Preparedness, has released an update to the online course Community Preparedness Basics: Get Ready, Be Safe, Stay Healthy which provides best practices, tips, and resources for individual and community preparedness.  This course is one of many resources available for Boston residents to take steps to increase their preparedness today.  Click here to read the press release issued by Boston's Mayor Martin J. Walsh, which reviews these resources, including the schedule of National Preparedness Month events.

FeaturedClassromCoursesFeatured Classroom Courses

Shaping the Future of Statewide Training: An opportunity to guide preparedness training and education across the Commonwealth

October 30, 2014

Agawam, MA
 

COOP ClassroomWhat does the future of preparedness education look like in Massachusetts for public health and healthcare? With the formation of Health and Medical Coordinating Coalitions (HMCC's) on the horizon, what are our highest priority performance challenges to address through training and education? How can we deliver training and education in a format that is accessible to the greatest number of stakeholders? Join us to explore these key questions and their implications for the future of statewide training.


As of July, 2014, the DelValle Institute was awarded a contract by the Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPEM) at MDPH to serve as the statewide Emergency Preparedness Education and Training Center, tasked with providing education and training opportunities to support public health and healthcare preparedness across the Commonwealth. This workshop will assemble stakeholders to envision the future of statewide training. The workshop will be repeated in Eastern Massachusetts in Spring 2015, and the combined findings will drive the development of learning opportunities over the next few years. Click here to register now.
 

Staying Safe During Active Shooter Incidents

October 21, 2014

Boston, MA

In recent years, the nation has been deeply affected by the impacts of active shooters. As these incidents continue to occur, it is crucial to understand the dynamics of an active shooter incident and how you can best protect yourself. Join Boston Public Health Commission Public Safety Director Q Riley and Deputy Director Shumeame Benford as they discuss strategies to stay safe during an active shooter incident. The course will emphasize lessons learned from prior active shooter incidents as well as the roles and actions of public safety during a response. Additionally, a discussion of safety guidelines and recommended actions that can be taken if an active shooter situation is encountered at school, work, or another location will be provided. This Boston MRC special topic course is open to the public. Click here to register now! 

 

Emergency Planning for the Whole Community

November 19, 2014

Attleboro, MA
 

Community resilience begins with inclusive planning and collective engagement, as demonstrated by recent emergencies. Whether planning for a single organization, jurisdiction, or a more complex system, the Whole Community approach provides a strategy for integrating the needs and contributions of diverse groups into the planning process.

This course provides an overview of how social factors link to vulnerability and poor health outcomes after a disaster, as well as national guidance that supports emergency planning and related legal requirements. Participants will also review the access and functional needs categories and how these, along with social determinants of vulnerability, can be incorporated into emergency management functions. By planning for inclusion using the Whole Community approach, and engaging in broad discussions with stakeholders, participants will be able to apply strategies and methods to stop planning for easy and begin planning for the real, diverse make-up of communities. Participants will walk away with a toolkit of best practices, lessons learned, and online resources. Click here to register now! 

UpcomingCoursesUpcoming Courses 
WMD Modules 1 and 2
Various Dates 

All-Hazards Disaster Response and Protection for Healthcare Personnel - Awareness Modules I & II 

September 23, 2014

October 7, 2014

December 8, 2014
COOP Classroom

ICS-300: Incident Command System for Supervisory Personnel, Non-Supervisory Personnel in Planning

October 22, 23 & 24, 2014

 ICS-400: Incident Command System for Emergency Management Directors, Chiefs, and Senior Leaders 

December 4 & 5, 2014
October 30, 2014


Staying Safe During Active Shooter Incidents
October 21, 2014
 

 "The instructor knew the subject, was very friendly, and informative. Excellent job."


"Very engaging speaker. Well-organized and well-paced. Great use of multimedia.
Thanks for making a potentially dry topic enjoyable."

 

onlinelearningOnline Learning

Visit our Learning Center for more information on online learning opportunities:

Online Courses 

 

Visit our Knowledge Base to learn more about topics including:   
EPEmergency Preparedness News, Updates, and Affiliated Trainings
Upcoming Webinars on Coalitions in Response 

The MDPH Office of Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPEM) will be hosting a webinar on Health and Medical Coordinating Coalitions (HMCC's) on September 23, 2014 at 11:00AM - 1:00PM. This webinar will include presentations about healthcare coalition development in Michigan, Minnesota, and Utah. Speakers from each state will provide an overview of their operations as well as lessons learned during the development of their healthcare coalitions. For more information and to register for this webinar, click here.
 

Additionally, the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP), a program of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), promotes the ongoing exchange of information in support of its preparedness mission by conducting teleconferences and webinars.  These events are an opportunity for HPP staff and outstanding expert speakers to provide insight into preparedness activities and to describe real world examples of how preparedness is being implemented every day across the nation.  The next webinar in this series is on Coalitions in Response on October 16, 2014 at 2:00PM-3:30PM. Visit the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response HPP website for more information on this webinar series!
 

Learning in Disaster Health
The National Center for Disaster Medicine & Public Health held its Learning in Disaster Health workshop last week in Fort Myer, Virginia. The workshop highlighted the implications of the latest research and practice for disaster health learning and performance. If you are interested in learning more about the workshop, visit the web page for the agenda and presentation slides, or check out the #LDH14 conversation on twitter.


Many useful tools were presented at the workshop, including:

  • NowTrending.HHS.gov: This tool is intended for health departments and other health entities to use in multiple ways, such as serving as an indicator of potential health issues emerging in the population, building a baseline of trend data, engaging the public on trending health topics, or cross-referencing other data sources.
  • Quick-Learn Design Toolkit: This toolkit, available on the CDC Learning Connection, was developed to provide guidance for the design of online Quick-Learn lessons, which are lessons that take 20 minutes or less to complete.

Updates on Ebola

As the Ebola epidemic continues in West Africa, many agencies are disseminating informational updates and treatment guidelines for the virus, including the CDC, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Boston Public Health Commission.


One source of information that may be less familiar is the Yale-Tulane ESF-8 Planning and Response Network, which issued its latest special report on September 5, 2014. The report contains detailed and thorough information about the current situation, including maps of affected areas, risk assessment, and a summary of the impact on each affected country. Click here to view the report.
PartnersPartners

The DelValle Institute has great partners in emergency preparedness trainings for public health and healthcare providers in Massachusetts, including: 
 
DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness
Boston Emergency Medical Services Headquarters
785 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118
Phone: (617) 343-1370 Fax: (617) 343-1121
To save this email to your desktop as a PDF, click here.

The DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness is the Education & Training branch of the Office of Public Health Preparedness. In conjunction with Boston EMS, a bureau of the Boston Public Health Commission, the DelValle Institute provides high-quality all-hazards training and exercises to develop and enhance capabilities-based preparedness. DelValle Institute is funded through federal grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information regarding DelValle Institute funding, visit the Learning Center at https://delvalle.bphc.org.

 

 

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