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January-March
2007
NCCPHP began
the new year with a variety of training efforts for partners across
the globe! We completed the prototype of the first module of the
Field Epidemiology Training Program in Guatemala,
began work on a new epidemiology training curriculum for the World
Health Organization in Fiji, and facilitated 3 Rapid
Response trainings at sites across the US as part of our avian
influenza curriculum development for the Council of State and
Territorial Epidemiologists.
We also released
a new resource for trainers, "I is for Investigation,"
which goes through the steps of conducting an outbreak investigation.
This CD-ROM and facilitator's guide is a follow-up to the introductory
"E is for Epi" training resource released in 2006. Copies
of "I is for Investigation" were circulated to public
health professionals across the US and other countries.
Looking ahead
to future projects, we are very pleased to once again co-sponsor
this year's annual NC School Nurse Conference special session
on disaster preparedness. We are also beginning to work on a new
project for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
revising their forensic epidemiology and public health emergency
law curricula.
---Pia
MacDonald, NCCPHP Director
Surveillance
& Epidemiology
Team
Epi-Aid (SPH student volunteers to assist urgent public health
response)
Team Epi-Aid
co-sponsored a spring break service trip to Biloxi, Mississippi,
to continue last year's assistance with recovery from Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. Volunteers from the UNC Schools of Nursing,
Public Health, and Social Work, as well as community partners,
worked with the Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response in
"Camp Biloxi." The group provided health services, social
services, home repair, and community clean up around the Biloxi
and Pearlington areas.
While in Mississippi,
3 Team Epi-Aid students collected information to create a map
of the actual locations of residents' homes matched to their supposed
street addresses, and merged this map with health and social services
needs identified by other student teams. This product was delivered
to the Mississippi Department of Health regional office and the
Pearlington Recovery Center to aid future volunteers in efforts
to locate and meet the needs of hurricane-displaced residents.
Technical
Assistance to North Carolina
This quarter,
NCCPHP continued its work with developing the NC Epi Teams training
curriculum. We provided training on the basics of outbreak investigations
to the Wayne County Epi Team, and planned for the annual NC Epi
Teams Training Conference in conjunction with the North Carolina
Institute for Public Health and state partners. NCCPHP also conducted
a regional Epi Info software training for public health professionals
in Asheville and provided Epi Info technical support to Rowan
County.
NCCPHP staff
continued reviewing plans, visiting counties, and providing technical
assistance to local health departments around pandemic influenza
planning. This included a Pandemic Influenza Planning Workshop
conducted on March 1 with attendees from 28 local health departments
and 2 PHRST team members, and development of a "best practices"
plan excerpt document for assisting local planners. As of the
March 31 deadline, 83 local health departments (97%) had submitted
pandemic influenza plans. NCCPHP provided feedback on more than
65 plans, approved 43 plans, and collaborated with the NC Division
of Public Health to officially approve 10 plans.
Training
& Education
Training
Web Site
In the 1st quarter
of 2007, the NCCPHP Training Web Site had 3,789 newly completed
trainings and 2,146 new registered users, for a total of 17,952
users. There were 4 new NCCPHP-developed trainings added to the
site, for a total of 167 available NCCPHP trainings. Efforts are
underway to reorganize the site to make it easier to navigate
and locate trainings.
FOCUS
on Field Epidemiology
The final two
issues of Volume 3 and the first issue of Volume 4 of FOCUS on
Field Epidemiology were published this quarter. All 3 issues center
on data analysis from the basic
steps of descriptive data analysis through simple
and more
advanced statistical tests. The data analysis issues are available
on our FOCUS
web page.
A new issue
of FOCUS on Field Epidemiology was also translated and published
in Spanish. The newly available Spanish issue is Volume 2, Issue
2: "Developing a Questionnaire" ("Desarrollo
de un Cuestionario").
Field
Epidemiology Training Program, Guatemala
NCCPHP staff
completed work on a curriculum module prototype and attended an
introductory course in Guatemala on March 13-16. This project
is being carried out in partnership with the CDC and international
partners in Guatemala including Guatemala's Ministry of Public
Health and the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala.
Council
of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Avian Influenza Curriculum
Development
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the Council of State and Territorial
Epidemiologists, and NCCPHP provided 3 Rapid Response trainings
in Washington, DC, Denver, CO, and Atlanta, GA, for state and
local officials responsible for identification, surveillance,
and response activities for avian influenza. NCCPHP facilitated
the trainings and developed the curriculum based on the UC Department
of Health and Human Services/CDC guidelines for State and Local
Health Departments for Conducting Investigations of Human Illness
Associated with Domestic Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Outbreaks
in Animals.
NACCHO
Advanced Practice Centers Training Conference
NCCPHP staff
facilitated sessions and assisted with logistics for nearly 170
attendees at the 2007 Advanced Practice Centers Training Conference
held February 20-21 in Washington, DC. The 8 APCs presented trainings
on best practice public health preparedness resources and programs.
All respondents to the conference evaluation reported that the
conference was very or somewhat useful. NCCPHP will compile conference
materials into a trainer's guide and CD-ROM to be distributed
to all conference attendees and NACCHO members. Preparations also
began on the "webinar" series that will provide a brief
overview of each of the 8 APC trainings presented at the conference.
Mental
Health Preparedness Training Curriculum
NCCPHP conducted
2 Mental Health Preparedness trainings for nearly 100 public health
professionals in Knoxville and Jackson, TN, at the request of
the Tennessee Department of Health. NCCPHP developed an introductory
training program designed for local health department staff and
community volunteers to build awareness of the psychosocial consequences
of disasters. The self-paced or small group training can be completed
in approximately 3.5 hours using the program video (in DVD or
VHS format) and the participant workbook, including 5 learning
activities.
Preparedness
Training Series
A year-end survey
of participants in the 2006 Preparedness Training Series found
that 94% rated the trainings as "Very Good" or "Good"
and 88% reported that ease of use was "Very Good" or
"Good." Participants from public health, EMS, healthcare,
emergency management, and many other fields participated in the
2006 series. The
2007 Preparedness Training Series got underway with topics on
pandemic influenza, radiation, and chemical terrorism, and nearly
450 registrants by the end of March.
Symposium
Series on Public Health Preparedness
NCCPHP continued
its 2006-07 Symposium Series on Public Health Preparedness by
hosting three online symposia titled "Pandemic Influenza:
Local Preparedness," "ICS in Action: Using the Incident
Command System in Public Health," and "Pandemic Influenza
Risk Communication: From 1918 to Today--What is Different?"
Each symposium is broadcast in a "webinar" presentation
format with audiovisuals delivered via a combination of phone
and computer technology. Archived versions of these presentations
and information about upcoming events in the series are available
on the NCCPHP
Symposium Series page.
Online
Certificate in Field Epidemiology
A new semester
began in the online Certificate in Field Epidemiology. The 12-credit
graduate level program is offered entirely over the Internet.
The curriculum addresses the core functions of outbreak investigation,
surveillance systems and methods, infectious disease epidemiology,
and field epidemiology methods.
Introduction
to Communicable Disease Surveillance and Investigation Training
Course
In partnership
with the General Communicable Disease Control Branch at the NC
Division of Public Health, NCCPHP provided technical support for
64 new students who began the 15-week Introduction to Communicable
Disease Surveillance and Investigation training course in January.
Pandemic
Influenza Preparedness Training for North Carolina Local Health
Departments
A second cohort
of 43 students representing 38 counties began the online pandemic
influenza preparedness course for North Carolina local health
departments. NCCPHP developed the course in conjunction with the
General Communicable Disease Control Branch in the NC Division
of Public Health to increase knowledge and build skills relevant
to the essential and unique elements of an influenza pandemic
response at the local level.
Lifelong
Learning
NCCPHP completed
and delivered final reports of a workforce development survey
of all employees in the North Carolina Division of Public Health
and Department of Environmental Health for their accreditation
process. NCCPHP provided demographic and training needs data for
all state-level public health employees, as well as for specific
occupations, agencies, and sections within each agency.
NCCPHP staff
also provided training and assistance to Beaufort, Catawba, Harnett,
and New Hanover counties on various issues related to lifelong
learning and the online workforce development system.
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