DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness
January 2015 Newsletter
In This Issue...

 2014 Year in Review ● Featured Course 

● Featured Webinar ● Upcoming Courses ● Online Learning 

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

security2014 Year in Review
Dear Colleagues,


As we ring in the New Year, the DelValle Institute is pausing to reflect on the past year's activities and is looking ahead to what 2015 will bring.
 

Looking Back to Look Forward

Highlights of 2014 include launching our statewide training grant with a workshop in Agawam, MA (see related article), producing our first videos, making the Learning Center more mobile friendly, and piloting a new hands-on course on Hospital-Based Patient Decontamination. In 2015, we plan to continue our growth in these same areas. Look out for more videos as well as a revamped newsletter in the coming months. We'll also complete the final stage of upgrades to our Learning Center which will allow us to creatively blend online and in-person events. Finally, we'll continue to reach out to you, our stakeholders and partners, in Greater Boston and across Massachusetts to hear your thoughts on how we can work together to address the many learning challenges in public health and healthcare preparedness. 
 

The Year in Review

In 2014, we delivered 85 classroom sessions, 5 webinars, 9 online courses, and 9 topics in our knowledge base. We also provided 21 technical assistance sessions, increased due to demand surrounding Ebola virus disease (EVD). With the inception of our statewide training grant in July, we began to distribute our programming across the Commonwealth, including calling and visiting colleagues in Regions 1 and 2 to learn more about challenges and best practices in those areas. Here's a look at where we've been, and where our students came from in 2014: 
 
DelValle Institute Year-in-Review Maps
Click here to view larger size

DelValle Institute by the Numbers

To provide more insight into the DelValle Institute's impact on public health preparedness in 2014, here's a quick rundown of some additional data for the year:
 


Thank You

In closing, I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to the continued success of our programming. We depend upon our stakeholders to provide ideas for new offerings, to review our course content to let us know what we're missing, and to share emerging best practices and challenges encountered in the field.  If you would like to share your ideas on how we can continue to improve our programs, please do not hesitate to contact me, or any of our staff.
 

Sincerely,

Mea Allen
 

Associate Director of Education & Training, Office of Public Health Preparedness

DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness

Boston Public Health Commission 

mallen@bphc.org 

FeaturedClassromCoursesFeatured Course

What does the future of public health and healthcare focused preparedness education look like in Massachusetts? 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 more closely connect training to actual performance during drills, exercises, and actual incidents? 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.

The workshop was offered in Western Massachusetts in October 2014; the combined findings will drive the development of statewide learning opportunities over the next few years. Click here to register today! 

featuredwebinarFeatured Webinar

Part 1: Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Part 2: Thursday, February 12, 2015
  

This two-part webinar series introduces foundational knowledge to prepare personnel in healthcare settings for potential disaster situations that may be encountered in the course of their daily duties. Through an interactive webinar format, participants will learn to apply the RAIN algorithm (Recognize, Avoid, Isolate, and Notify) to take initial defensive response actions in response to a potential incident. The course reviews the spectrum of hazards and their corresponding threats, including natural disasters, terrorism, and chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive (CBRNE) agents. With its focus on healthcare personnel, the course concludes by presenting material on the topics of victim management and personal protective equipment (PPE). You must attend both sessions to receive full course credit. To register for this webinar series, click here.
UpcomingCoursesUpcoming Courses
 
Various Dates

 Boston MRC Introduction to Biological Hazards Response
January 27, 2015

WMD Modules 1 and 2

Module I: All-Hazards Disaster Response & Protection for Healthcare Personnel - Awareness Webinar Series
February 10 & 12, 2015
 

 Boston MRC Shelter Operations

May 12, 2015  


 

 


 

 

"Very composed and informational, presented the information completely."

 

"Great class. Really enjoyed it! Very informative, great energy."

 

"Well versed and knowledgeable in subject matter." 

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:   
EmergencyPrepEmergency Preparedness News, Updates, and Affiliated Trainings

  

New guidance regarding patient decontamination has been released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Health Affairs. This guidance is based on scientific evidence on decontaminating patients in ways that improve health outcomes in a chemical incident. The new final guidance covers mass casualties, chemical release, external contamination, and decontamination of people (not animals, inanimate objects, or facilities). Click here to read more, or download the 125-page document from this direct link.

 

 Pan Flu Tabletop Exercise from the CDC
The CDC has developed the "Pan Flu Scramble Exercise", also referred to as the "Scramble", [a] discussion-based, tabletop exercise designed for communities and their healthcare stakeholders to test their patient surge plans. Exercise players will be asked to coordinate their response to an influenza pandemic scenario, where the number of patients seeking care exceeds the limits of their community's ability to provide adequate and timely medical evaluation and care.

This exercise toolkit is available for download, and includes an Exercise Guide, patient cards, inject cards, and more. The Scramble follows Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) guidelines, and allows a community the opportunity to analyze their medical surge capacity and provides a forum to identify potential gaps in the community's model of healthcare delivery in a no-fault environment.
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

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.

 

 

EMC BPHC Logos Formatted