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  Health Resources and Services Administrator, Dr. Elizabeth M. Duke, is surrounded by 68 HRSA Ready Responders who attended “Principles of Public Health Emergency Management: A Competency-Based Curriculum, 16-26 May , 2006. |
| HRSA Ready Responders Receive Disaster Preparedness Training |
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submitted by LCDR Nancy Knight |
| In May 2006, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) conducted a 2-week intensive training program in Gaithersburg, MD, on disaster preparedness. The training program, “Principles of Public Health Emergency Management: A Competency-Based Curriculum,” was developed in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) International Emergency Preparedness Team specifically for HRSA’s Ready Responder Program. The training program was held 16-26 May 2006 and 68 of 72 Ready Responders completed the training. |
| Two training programs were conducted concurrently – a basic course for officers new to the Ready Responder Program and an advanced course for Ready Responders who have completed previous years’ training sessions. The basic course included topics such as Natural and Technological Disasters, Biological and Chemical Agents, Disaster Mental Health, and Mass Casualties including START (Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment) and JumpSTART Triaging. The advanced course topics included Pandemic Influenza Planning, Strategic National Stockpile, Hospital Bioterrorism Tabletop Drill, Urban Search and Rescue, Risk Communication, Rapid Needs Assessment, International Disasters, Sphere Standards including designing refuge/displaced population settlements, and ADEPT (Automated Disaster Emergency Planning Tool). The training programs were conducted by CDC’s International Emergency Preparedness Team members. |
| HRSA’s Ready Responder Program, a component of the National Health Service Corps, was developed under Elizabeth M. Duke, PhD, HRSA Administrator, and announced by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2002. Since its inception, the program has grown from an initial 40 officers to 72, with a goal of 80 officers. Ready Responders are located across the country, currently serving communities in 44 States and one territory. Ready Responders are all officers in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps) who serve in some of the Nation’s most medically underserved communities. In addition to providing care to America’s neediest communities, Ready Responders are trained to respond to disasters at the local, regional, national, and international levels. In addition to training required by the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment (OFRD), Ready Responders are required to complete annual training provided by HRSA and to meet OFRD’s readiness standards for deployment. Ready Responders, through their service in isolated, hardship, and difficult-to-fill clinical positions and their preparedness for, and response to, national emergencies, address the Department’s critical mission responsibilities and requirements as outlined by Secretary Michael O. Leavitt in January 2006 in his address on the transformation of the Corps. |
| Corps officers eligible to join the Ready Responder Program are: physicians (board certified in family medicine, internal medicine, internal medicine/pediatrics, general psychiatry, or obstetrics/gynecology); general practice dentists (DDS or DMD); primary care certified nurse practitioners; primary care physician assistants; clinical psychologists; clinical social workers; and registered nurses. Additional information about the Ready Responder Program can be found at http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/join_us/ready_clin.asp or by contacting CAPT Evan Arrindell at rarrindell@hrsa.gov or 301-594-4150, or CAPT Stan Bastacky at sbastacky@hrsa.gov or 301-443-8419. |
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