INNOVATIONS IN TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Building workforce competency to ensure public health during crises was an important theme discussed at this event. Speakers throughout the day agreed upon the need for additional disaster health training that is tiered, interprofessional, and inclusive. In addition, all sectors need to work together to implement core training and then create just-in-time, event-specific training. Core training would provide a common baseline knowledge set that various professionals could use to respond cohesively with others during crises. Just-in-time training could augment this core knowledge with role-specific information that could be refreshed or learned just before responding to an event. Public health crisis leaders, federal health leaders, and the diverse nursing workforce, among others, have key roles to play in supporting our nation’s disaster health preparedness. Speakers focused on how we still have work to do in educating the wide range of health professionals who may respond to a disaster. In order to succeed in building workforce competency, speakers underscored the fact that we need stable funding commitments to build the health system’s competency to save lives and mitigate injuries during a crisis.

INNOVATIONS IN PRACTICE

This symposium showcased innovative disaster health practices in simultaneous, interactive, round table discussions. Seven speakers engaged with attendees in a networking session and urged them to learn about state-of-the-art practices in diverse disaster health settings in federal, state, and local governments and academia. Examples of showcase presentations included discussions of the Public Health System Training in Disaster Recovery (PHSTriDR) project and education and training efforts utilized by the Medical Reserve Corps. Attendees were engaged to take these innovations and apply them to their own workplace and projects.

Innovations in practice were also shared in a poster presentation competition. Presentations highlighted promising approaches, science, and practice for education and training in disaster medicine and public health. The 3 winning posters dealt with educational issues surrounding various aspects of disaster behavioral health and resilience. Please see the online data supplement for further information about all poster presentations at this dynamic event.

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING

Kobi Peleg, PhD, MPH, of Tel-Aviv University School of Public Health gave a Distinguished Speaker Lecture. Dr Peleg spoke about urban search and rescue (USAR) teams and other medical teams and their work after disasters around the world. He presented compelling evidence to suggest that USAR teams are not as effective in rescuing trapped earthquake victims as are layperson first responders. With this evidence as support, he suggested a new paradigm for mass training of high school students to perform the immediate actions of search and rescue teams after earthquakes or other mass casualty situations. Innovative teaching paradigms such as this prove to be both fiscally prudent and can ultimately save more lives in the wake of an earthquake.

Innovations in teaching were presented throughout the day including formal and informal educational activities. For example, informal education and training in disaster health have been extended to laypeople through the Stop the Bleed initiative and supporting research. The NCDMPH is currently crafting online educational tools targeted at nonmedical laypeople to learn about hemorrhage control. NCDMPH will conduct research in the near future to determine if this novel use of just-in-time education, in untrained laypeople, might impact survival in traumatic emergencies and disasters. Sessions also discussed formal curricula and how these educational programs and courses can be implemented to extend health professionals’ understanding of adult learning and disaster science.

INNOVATIONS IN SHARING KNOWLEDGE

A history and discussion of the current challenges posed by emerging, reemerging, and deliberately emerging infectious disease disasters was presented. This session shared knowledge as a way to prepare attendees to confront infectious disease challenges of the present and future using lessons learned from our past.

Symposium sessions also presented how the disaster community learns from one another and examples of how disaster preparedness has been enhanced by learning across disciplines. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s Technical Resource, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) was showcased as an innovative way in which the federal government is sharing technical resources, supporting professionals through its assistance center, and trading important information through their information exchange. In addition, pediatric disaster medicine and preparedness resources, templates, and lessons learned were exchanged in an information-sharing session.

INNOVATIONS IN OUR COMMUNITIES

Several speakers throughout the day discussed innovations in our communities from a variety of perspectives including federal, state, and local governments. Disaster preparedness can be enhanced by learning across communities at all levels. For example, the Veterans Administration has a significant footprint in clinical medicine augmented by the Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center’s education and training work. Additionally, Washington State developed an emergency operations plan based on best practices from other jurisdictions. Another example is the city of Boston application of a racial justice community engagement process to build resilience in all its metropolitan areas. Speakers at a variety of sessions encouraged interdisciplinary and cross-community learning and engagement to heighten disaster planning.