The success of any response to a disaster, natural or man-made, depends on the ability of the medical and public health communities to work together. The nation’s health care system of hospitals, emergency departments, private practices and public health agencies and clinics will bear the burden of caring for patients.
To bolster the medical and public health preparedness of the nation’s health delivery systems, clinicians and health professionals need to be trained to function across their traditional professional roles, and to consider a multi-disciplinary approach to the medical management of a disaster or public health emergency.
They must be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of exposure to a chemical, biological, or radiological agent or an emerging infection; provide victims with competent medical care; protect themselves from secondary exposure and contamination of health care facilities; communicate effectively within the public health system; and advocate for preparedness initiatives within the health system.
To meet this challenge, NCDP is working to ensure that core topics related to disaster preparedness, including bioterrorism, become an integral part of the basic and continuing education of all health care professionals. The initiative includes the HRSA Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program (BTCDP) led by Drs. Stephen Morse and Charles DiMaggio. With assistance from an interdisciplinary team of educators at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health, School of Dental and Oral Surgery and School of Nursing, the BTCDP is reviewing the existing graduate health curricula at each school and creating disaster-related content and educational competencies that are essential for all graduating health professionals. The program will disseminate these competencies to graduate health professions schools nationwide.
Additional collaborations to increase the knowledge and capabilities of the health care workforce have been established with the OSHA Region I Education and Training Center to develop a best practice system of training hospital personnel to handle patients exposed to hazardous substances. NCDP is also working with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to facilitate the creation of an “academic health department” by involving Columbia students and DOHMH staff in collaborative programs.
Future anticipated training and education initiatives include the development of distance-based learning programs for health professionals, interactive online simulations for health professions students, and the creation of a hands-on learning lab for clinical and public health students. |
