This is, IMHO, the direct result of mandating NIMS and ICS training (i.e. "excessive" federal linkage of grant funding with training mandates) for positions within agencies that have little to no emergency response role. In other words, we have distracted a great deal of people who will not likely "respond" in online training just because they work for an agency/group that receives federal preparedness funding. Sure, they are compliant, I guess. But are they competent? Probably not. Here's a snippet of a good article on this topic:
The good news now: Many, if not most, of our agencies are now NIMS-compliant. The bad news: Many of us have the illusion that we are also NIMS-competent. But those who actually manage incidents on the street have, in many jurisdictions, observed that in practice, little has changed. Practitioners have either refused to change the way they've done business for years, or they've continued the same old practices with a different vocabulary. Our colleagues in the fire service continue to be the most proficient users of the Incident Command System, because they use it more than EMS or law enforcement agencies.
http://www.emsresponder.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=7052
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Are we facing a general shortage of health care/public health workers in Maryland: implications for emergency management training and education
Reading this got me thinking about a few things in tandem ...
Although the state has plenty of doctors, it doesn't have enough who actually see patients - a situation that creates "a silent and growing crisis," the head of the state medical society said yesterday.
MedChi and the Maryland Hospital Association released a study yesterday showing that the state has 179 doctors delivering care for every 100,000 residents. That is 16 percent below the national average of 212.
Full article at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.bz.doctors08jan08,0,1498325.story
So in the face of an aging population (as the boomers age, retire and essentially become
"special needs" citizens - at least in the eyes of emergency management - we appear to
be facing a generalized shortage of doctors, albeit with regional hotspots of trouble (i.e. those states/regions showing smaller #s of doctors delivering care per 100,00 residents).
According to the article,
The greatest shortages in Maryland, according to the study, were found in rural areas and in certain specialties - primary care, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, hematology and oncology, thoracic and vascular surgery, psychiatry and dermatology.The study predicts a worsening shortage by 2015 as an aging population requires more care. At the same time, the physician force will experience more retirements. A quarter of the state's surgeons are 60 or older, the study found.
Hematology/oncology docs treat cancer patients, which will only grow in number as our populaiton ages given our current lifetime cancer risk in this country. Not good.
Worse is less primary care and emergency medicine docs, who will be crucial during surges in medical need, as will be experienced during some major public health issues of concern, like pandemic influenza and acts of bioterrorism.
Now couple this shortage with a general crisis in the public health work force, where the problem of being asked to do more with less has been growing steadily since 2001, despite larger amounts of cash coming into the national public health system from federal preparedness grants given to states.
Now in Maryland, this was studied in greater detail by Dr. Tom Burke's group at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (my alma mater and former employer).
See http://www.jhsph.edu/ecehp/Profile%20Report%20Page.html for their
"Profile of Maryland Environmental Health Practice." The report really is a first-of-a-kind
in terms of a comprehensive review of environmental health practice and found Maryland
"state’s environmental public health infrastructure is fragile, neglected, fragmented and under-funded."
So perhaps programs like the one in Joppatowne High School (see my blog posts from November for more links and info on this) are actually _needed_ in Maryland to compensate for our apparent lack of a homeland security and environmental public health
"pipeline" to ensure well-trained and prepared workers.
Although the state has plenty of doctors, it doesn't have enough who actually see patients - a situation that creates "a silent and growing crisis," the head of the state medical society said yesterday.
MedChi and the Maryland Hospital Association released a study yesterday showing that the state has 179 doctors delivering care for every 100,000 residents. That is 16 percent below the national average of 212.
Full article at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.bz.doctors08jan08,0,1498325.story
So in the face of an aging population (as the boomers age, retire and essentially become
"special needs" citizens - at least in the eyes of emergency management - we appear to
be facing a generalized shortage of doctors, albeit with regional hotspots of trouble (i.e. those states/regions showing smaller #s of doctors delivering care per 100,00 residents).
According to the article,
The greatest shortages in Maryland, according to the study, were found in rural areas and in certain specialties - primary care, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, hematology and oncology, thoracic and vascular surgery, psychiatry and dermatology.The study predicts a worsening shortage by 2015 as an aging population requires more care. At the same time, the physician force will experience more retirements. A quarter of the state's surgeons are 60 or older, the study found.
Hematology/oncology docs treat cancer patients, which will only grow in number as our populaiton ages given our current lifetime cancer risk in this country. Not good.
Worse is less primary care and emergency medicine docs, who will be crucial during surges in medical need, as will be experienced during some major public health issues of concern, like pandemic influenza and acts of bioterrorism.
Now couple this shortage with a general crisis in the public health work force, where the problem of being asked to do more with less has been growing steadily since 2001, despite larger amounts of cash coming into the national public health system from federal preparedness grants given to states.
Now in Maryland, this was studied in greater detail by Dr. Tom Burke's group at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (my alma mater and former employer).
See http://www.jhsph.edu/ecehp/Profile%20Report%20Page.html for their
"Profile of Maryland Environmental Health Practice." The report really is a first-of-a-kind
in terms of a comprehensive review of environmental health practice and found Maryland
"state’s environmental public health infrastructure is fragile, neglected, fragmented and under-funded."
So perhaps programs like the one in Joppatowne High School (see my blog posts from November for more links and info on this) are actually _needed_ in Maryland to compensate for our apparent lack of a homeland security and environmental public health
"pipeline" to ensure well-trained and prepared workers.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
"Govspace" and cyber-threat preparedness
An interesting read from a former colleague at the state of Michigan with some some even more interesting implications. In essence, we are just migrating the concept of parterning for preparedness and planning onto the Internet. One mission I'd like to see these ISACs tackle is the concept of utlilizing virtual worlds like Second Life - which already has much use and even greater potential for education and training - to help sculpt "govspace" and transform emergency center operations into encrypted, secure virtual meeting rooms where you have maximum access to all the tools you may need for rapid data receipt, analysis, and dissemination. (even in the face of power outages, which are really annoying, but can be overcome to a certain degree with industrial-strength computer batteries, back-up battery banks, online back-up systems (like Carbonite), and gas-fired electrical/power generators.
Regarding Second Life and education, check out these resources from Linden Labs:
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education
Regarding online back-up systems ... here's how Carbonite works:
http://www.carbonite.com/howitworks.aspx
I'm sure there are other out there. Of course, there are always Web-based email
applications (like Google Mail) that have quite sizable online storage capacity, especially
if you incorporate multiple accounts, where one can also store back-up info.
Anyway, I love Lohrmann's concept of "govspace" - we should think about how to best deploy this concept and add it to the lexicon, when we can.
From Government Technology magazine:
Joining the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) provides many operational benefits to state and local governments. The MS-ISAC is a central resource for gathering and sharing cyber-threat information among states and local governments, according to the MS-ISAC Web site.
The MS-ISAC coordinates actions between the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the states. State-specific ISACs are now being built around the country. Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida already share information with local governments, universities, K-12 schools and other public institutions via state ISAC portals and most other states are establishing ISACs. These state-specific ISACs provide a valuable central resource for information sharing within those states.
The Internet radically changed how the public sector delivers services. Securing "govspace," as I call it, requires us to partner in new ways. No matter what you've done in the past, I encourage public CIOs to get involved in their state ISAC efforts. We all need help, and we all need to help each other.
Full article here:
http://www.govtech.com/gt/224394?topic=117671
Regarding Second Life and education, check out these resources from Linden Labs:
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education
Regarding online back-up systems ... here's how Carbonite works:
http://www.carbonite.com/howitworks.aspx
I'm sure there are other out there. Of course, there are always Web-based email
applications (like Google Mail) that have quite sizable online storage capacity, especially
if you incorporate multiple accounts, where one can also store back-up info.
Anyway, I love Lohrmann's concept of "govspace" - we should think about how to best deploy this concept and add it to the lexicon, when we can.
From Government Technology magazine:
Joining the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) provides many operational benefits to state and local governments. The MS-ISAC is a central resource for gathering and sharing cyber-threat information among states and local governments, according to the MS-ISAC Web site.
The MS-ISAC coordinates actions between the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team and the states. State-specific ISACs are now being built around the country. Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida already share information with local governments, universities, K-12 schools and other public institutions via state ISAC portals and most other states are establishing ISACs. These state-specific ISACs provide a valuable central resource for information sharing within those states.
The Internet radically changed how the public sector delivers services. Securing "govspace," as I call it, requires us to partner in new ways. No matter what you've done in the past, I encourage public CIOs to get involved in their state ISAC efforts. We all need help, and we all need to help each other.
Full article here:
http://www.govtech.com/gt/224394?topic=117671
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
USUHS WMD certificate program in Bethesda, MD
Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD (Washington DC suburb) also offers certification in WMD knowledge. (The 2007 course just ended in mid-December, but generally requires 13 evening sessions once a week). Description and more info can be found below:
The Department of Defense Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is the Nation's leader in military operational medicine and has trained military medical officers for DoD's worldwide commitments for over 30 years. USU expanded its role to address the needs of the DoD, federal, state and local agencies in understanding the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and how to prepate and respond to these threats. The three courses in this series are: The Bioterrorism and Homeland Security Course (Fall, 2007), the Chemical Terrorism and Emergency Management Course (Winter, 2008), and the Nuclear, Radiological, and High Yield Explosives Course (Fall, 2008). Successful completion of all three graduate courses will confer a USU Certificate of Knowledge in the Weapons of Mass Destruction.
http://www.usuhs.mil/bthls/
The Department of Defense Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is the Nation's leader in military operational medicine and has trained military medical officers for DoD's worldwide commitments for over 30 years. USU expanded its role to address the needs of the DoD, federal, state and local agencies in understanding the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and how to prepate and respond to these threats. The three courses in this series are: The Bioterrorism and Homeland Security Course (Fall, 2007), the Chemical Terrorism and Emergency Management Course (Winter, 2008), and the Nuclear, Radiological, and High Yield Explosives Course (Fall, 2008). Successful completion of all three graduate courses will confer a USU Certificate of Knowledge in the Weapons of Mass Destruction.
http://www.usuhs.mil/bthls/
Iowa Central Homeland Security Training Center and federal spending
Well, this is one way for localities to get federal dollars -- in West Virginia, we call these "Byrd droppings" (after the one and only Senator Robert C Byrd). Here's an example from the recently passed 2008 omnibus spending bill:
U.S. Rep. Latham: Training center provides important resources for Iowa's first responders
12/20/2007
WASHINGTON, DC — Iowa Congressman Tom Latham has secured $423,000 in funding for a state-of-the-art first-responder training program at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. “These funds will allow this important program to continue to provide first-rate training for all of Iowa’s first responders,” Latham said. “It’s essential that the brave men and women Iowa families trust with their help in times of crisis have the most up-to-date tools and training available.
Iowa Central Community College is the leader in helping our professional first responders prepare for worst case scenarios.”The funds secured by Latham will allow the Iowa Central Homeland Security Training Center (ICHSTC) to move forward with its instruction for law enforcement personnel and others, as part of a six-state rural preparedness consortium.
To-date Latham has secured over $1.7 million for the center, which has trained over 21,755 first responders during 795 different training sessions. The first responder training includes terrorism awareness, basic incident command and bombing awareness.
http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113775
They key part of this is the "six-state rural preparedness consortium" that will help out a part of the country that is likely to suffer once funding goes to a purely risk-based system.
U.S. Rep. Latham: Training center provides important resources for Iowa's first responders
12/20/2007
WASHINGTON, DC — Iowa Congressman Tom Latham has secured $423,000 in funding for a state-of-the-art first-responder training program at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa. “These funds will allow this important program to continue to provide first-rate training for all of Iowa’s first responders,” Latham said. “It’s essential that the brave men and women Iowa families trust with their help in times of crisis have the most up-to-date tools and training available.
Iowa Central Community College is the leader in helping our professional first responders prepare for worst case scenarios.”The funds secured by Latham will allow the Iowa Central Homeland Security Training Center (ICHSTC) to move forward with its instruction for law enforcement personnel and others, as part of a six-state rural preparedness consortium.
To-date Latham has secured over $1.7 million for the center, which has trained over 21,755 first responders during 795 different training sessions. The first responder training includes terrorism awareness, basic incident command and bombing awareness.
http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113775
They key part of this is the "six-state rural preparedness consortium" that will help out a part of the country that is likely to suffer once funding goes to a purely risk-based system.
American Red Cross - another great source for community-based emergency preparedness training
In my continued struggles to collect great online training, don't forget what is available at the Red Cross website:
http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/courses/community.html
Not necessarily ALL online, but includes many easily forgotten but very useful things like
"babysitter training" and CPR/First Aid, etc. Contact your local chapter for more info!
http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/courses/community.html
Not necessarily ALL online, but includes many easily forgotten but very useful things like
"babysitter training" and CPR/First Aid, etc. Contact your local chapter for more info!
2008 guidelines for DHS Scholarship/Fellowship program
2008 Competition Guidelines for DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program
have been announced:
For full article, see:
http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) realizes that the country’s strong science and technology community provides a critical advantage in the development and implementation of counter-terrorist measures and other DHS objectives. The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission. This education program is intended to ensure a highly talented science and technology community to achieve the DHS mission and objectives.
Eligible students must be studying in a homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) field with an interest in one of the homeland security research areas listed below:
Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
Risk and Decision Sciences
Human Factors Aspects of Technology
Chemical Threats and Countermeasures
Biological Threats and Countermeasures
Food and Agriculture Security
Transportation Security
Border Security
Immigration Studies
Maritime and Port Security
Infrastructure Protection
Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Communications and Interoperability
Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization
In 2007, there were only 15 of 262 accepted among the undergraduate applicants and 13 of 347 graduate applicants. So its pretty competetive! This is the fifth competition cycle thus far.
have been announced:
For full article, see:
http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) realizes that the country’s strong science and technology community provides a critical advantage in the development and implementation of counter-terrorist measures and other DHS objectives. The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program is intended for students interested in pursuing the basic science and technology innovations that can be applied to the DHS mission. This education program is intended to ensure a highly talented science and technology community to achieve the DHS mission and objectives.
Eligible students must be studying in a homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics (HS-STEM) field with an interest in one of the homeland security research areas listed below:
Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
Risk and Decision Sciences
Human Factors Aspects of Technology
Chemical Threats and Countermeasures
Biological Threats and Countermeasures
Food and Agriculture Security
Transportation Security
Border Security
Immigration Studies
Maritime and Port Security
Infrastructure Protection
Natural Disasters and Related Geophysical Studies
Emergency Preparedness and Response
Communications and Interoperability
Advanced Data Analysis and Visualization
In 2007, there were only 15 of 262 accepted among the undergraduate applicants and 13 of 347 graduate applicants. So its pretty competetive! This is the fifth competition cycle thus far.
emsacademy.com now available to train and track credits online
Here's another great online training resource for emergency preparedness ... this time, for the pre-hospital health care community as well as other first responders.
"MC Strategies, a leading provider of electronic education products and services to healthcare, announced today that USA Prepare, its emergency preparedness unit, will provide its technology and experience to emsacademy.com, a website dedicated to training EMTs, first responders and pre-hospital workers."
Full news release here:
http://www.mcstrategies.com/?a=press&c=2007_12_10
"MC Strategies, a leading provider of electronic education products and services to healthcare, announced today that USA Prepare, its emergency preparedness unit, will provide its technology and experience to emsacademy.com, a website dedicated to training EMTs, first responders and pre-hospital workers."
Full news release here:
http://www.mcstrategies.com/?a=press&c=2007_12_10
Monday, December 3, 2007
National Academic Consortium for Homeland Security
Looks like there is a new academic consortium group out of Ohio State University
http://homelandsecurity.osu.edu/NACHS/index.html
Welcome to the web site for the National Academic Consortium for Homeland Security. The Consortium comprises public and private academic institutions engaged in scientific research, technology development and transition, education and training, and service programs concerned with current and future U.S. national security challenges, issues, problems and solutions, at home and around the world.
This web site offers registered academic institutions the opportunity to share information describing its organizations, research projects, technology development and deployment activities, education and training programs or courses, and service activities pertaining to international and homeland security. It also offers you the capability to identify institutions, research projects and capabilities, education and training programs, and other activities concerned with various aspects of U.S. national security, at home and abroad.
http://homelandsecurity.osu.edu/NACHS/index.html
Welcome to the web site for the National Academic Consortium for Homeland Security. The Consortium comprises public and private academic institutions engaged in scientific research, technology development and transition, education and training, and service programs concerned with current and future U.S. national security challenges, issues, problems and solutions, at home and around the world.
This web site offers registered academic institutions the opportunity to share information describing its organizations, research projects, technology development and deployment activities, education and training programs or courses, and service activities pertaining to international and homeland security. It also offers you the capability to identify institutions, research projects and capabilities, education and training programs, and other activities concerned with various aspects of U.S. national security, at home and abroad.
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