USA~Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness
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Communicating Pandemic Flu Risk to the Public
Tuesday, July 24 2007
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
University of Texas Health Science Center, Brownsville Regional Campus
School of Public Health Media Room 240
Brownsville, Texas
For additional information please click on the attached flyer in PDF format:
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Communicating Pandemic Flu Risk to the Public
Monday, July 30, 2007
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Center for South Texas Programs
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Laredo Campus Extension
1937 Bustamante St., Laredo Texas
Second Floor Auditorium
For additional information please click on the attached flyer in PDF format:
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Other Educational Opportunities for Rural Public Health Preparedness
Assessment ProcessAbout the Program
ATSDR specializes in evaluating public health issues related to releases of toxic chemicals into the environment. To conduct a thorough evaluation of public health issues, ATSDR developed the public health assessment process. This online training program provides an overview of the information used in training ATSDR health assessors.Learning program consist of six sections:
Section 1. Introduction
Section 2. Community Involvement
Section 3. Exposure Pathways Analysis
Section 4. Toxicologic Evaluation
Section 5. Health Outcome Data Evaluation
Section 6. Conclusions, Recommendations, and Public Health Action Plans
Target Audience
Public Health Professionals involved in the assessment and evaluation of public health issues.
Link: What's ATSDR and the Public Assessment Process About?
Bioterrorism Preparedness
About the Program
September 2001 ushered in a new era in public health preparedness. Following the devastating attacks on September 11, the possibility of bioterrorism became a reality with the intentional distribution of a deadly form of Bacillus anthracis through our mail system. Twenty-two people were diagnosed with anthrax and five of them died. What role did public health play in preventing additional cases? What was done right? What could be done better? Join us as we share Arlington, Virginia's response to the anthrax crisis, their best practices, and the lessons they learned.
Target Audience
Public health leaders, managers, and professionals from local and state health departments, federal agencies, hospitals, clinics, academic institutions, emergency management services, and others who are involved in planning a response to the threat of bioterrorism.
Link: Bioterrorism Preparedness: A Progress ReportCenters for Public Health Preparedness
About the Program
By reaching and teaching the public health workforce, the Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) help to ensure a strong public health system when and where it is needed. Through their commitment to providing lifelong learning opportunities to public health professionals, schools of public health prepare the public health workforce to meet health threats and emergencies.
The network of 50 CPHP is a unique partnership between accredited schools of public health, dentistry schools, medical schools, and veterinary schools and state and local health departments. The power of the network lies in the partnerships. It provides a countrywide defense system through the preparation of front-line public health workers and first responders.
Target Audience
State and local public health agencies that are building workforce preparedness and response capabilities.
Disease Cluster
Exposure HistoryAbout the Program
The goals of this CSEM are to increase the knowledge of health care providers, especially pediatricians, of the special susceptibilities of children to hazardous substances in the environment and to aid in their evaluation of potentially exposed patients. After completion of this educational activity, the reader should be able to define a disease cluster, describe the components of the public health department disease cluster investigation, and describe the physician’s responsibility regarding disease clusters.
Target Audience
The intended audience is physicians, nurses, health educators, and public health professionals.The following session is a PDF format: CE expires 09/30/05
About the Program
The goal of the Case Studies in Environmental Medicine is to increase the primary care provider's knowledge of hazardous substances in the environment and to aid in the evaluation of potentially exposed patients.
After completion of this educational activity, the reader should be able to discuss three important reasons for taking an exposure history, explain the process of taking an exposure history, and list two sources of information on exposure history.Target Audience
Physicians, nurses and public health professionals.The following session is a PDF format: CE expires 06/30/06
Information and Communication Technology
About the Program
Information and communications technology have become the cornerstones of public health practice in the 21st century. At a time when communities are preparing to respond to any public health crisis in a matter of hours and even minutes, the speed with which we communicate and access information becomes crucial. Online resources, innovative software, and sophisticated equipment provide the necessary tools, but it is the exchange of information that makes a difference in a wired community. Across cities, states, and countries, these exchanges strengthen our public health infrastructure and allow the public health workforce to apply the latest and most relevant research to their everyday practice. Join us as we share the vision of Blacksburg, Virginia, a community that is improving the practice of public health by building relationships, investing in information technology, and communicating with the world.
Target AudiencePublic health and civic leaders, managers, and professionals from local and state government agencies, public health libraries, boards of health, community organizations, academic institutions, federal agencies, and others who seek to learn more about how electronic networks, informatics competencies, and on-line resources foster communication and learning among the public health workforce and their community partners.
Link: Public Health Grand Rounds Wired Communities: Putting the "e" in Public HealthPrinciples of Epidemiology
About the Program
This course presents concepts, principles, and methods generally used in the surveillance and investigation of health-related events. The book describes key features and applications of descriptive and analytic epidemiology; provides methods to calculate and interpret ratios, proportions, incidence rates, mortality rates, prevalence, and years of potential life lost. It also provides calculations and interpretations of mean, median, mode, range, variance, standard deviation, and confidence interval and development of tables, graphs, and charts from such statistics. The processes, uses, and evaluation of public health surveillance are also described, followed by the steps of an outbreak investigation.
Target Audience
Public health professionals who have, or expect to have, responsibility for disease surveillance or case investigation. The following session is a PDF format: CE expires 03/31/06
Public Health Laboratory
About the Program
Laboratories have long been part of the foundation of public health practice. In times of emerging diseases, bioterrorism threats, and natural disasters, the role of public health laboratories is highly visible, but even in the absence of these events, these laboratories are essential community partners in protecting the public's health.
Newborn screening, environmental monitoring, infectious disease surveillance, and measuring indicators for chronic diseases are just some of the routine testing laboratories perform. These services are provided by a system of public health and clinical laboratories. While systems vary according to state, these laboratories are linked together locally through community partnerships and nationally through the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL). Through leadership and communication networks, APHL fosters continuous quality improvement among these laboratories. This program will focus on the laboratory network in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, and how this system works to strengthen public health infrastructure to protect and improve the health of the community.
Target Audience
For public health leaders, managers, and professionals from local and state government agencies, clinical laboratories, boards of health, community organizations, academic institutions, federal agencies, and others who seek to learn more about the role of public health and clinical laboratories in protecting the public's health in times of emerging diseases, natural and man-made disasters and lifesaving interventions.
Link: Disease, Disaster and Detection: Partnering with Public Health Laboratories
Model: Emergency Response Communication Planning for Infectious Disease Outbreak and Bioterrorism Events
About the Program
The first edition of this planning tool was released in May 2000. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, and subsequent release of anthrax spores, a second edition was warranted. This edition contains updated information and includes Infectious Disease Fact Sheets that can be modified and reproduced for local use. While state and federal agencies have deemed public health preparedness to respond to infectious disease and bioterrorism threats essential to safeguard the nation’s well-being, the resources needed to support such planning efforts have not always been available. Recent events, however, have yielded compelling arguments to commit the resources necessary to develop and maintain strong public health infrastructures with systems prepared to respond immediately to biological and chemical attacks that threaten the public health. ASTDHPPHE and its partners hope that the information provided in this document will advance that goal. The expertise of health education and health communication specialists is paramount in emergency preparedness efforts. They possess unique skills for communicating messages to forestall panic and public anxiety while increasing awareness of threatening agents and complex processes. Moreover, these practitioners are accustomed to focusing outreach efforts in ways that reach specific populations in varying settings across the country. They can assist in ensuring that vital messages reach the most vulnerable.
Target Audience
This document may be used as a self-study for certified health education specialists. A total of seven (7) continuing education contact hours (CECHs) are available through this offering. These hours can be obtained by reviewing this document and the supplementary article, (Communicating the Threat of Emerging Infections to the Public), completing a brief assessment on the materials (obtained using this request form) and returning it to the ASTDHPPHE Continuing Education Department. There is no charge for the contact hours. Interested individuals should request a continuing education packet for the material by forwarding the following information to ASTDHPPHE.
Updated: 07/11/2007