Emergency Preparedness for Health Professionals in a Statewide AHEC Program: The First Two Years

Abstract

In 2003 through 2005, the California Statewide Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program developed an educational delivery system, through partnerships with six AHECs and state organizations concerned with emergency preparedness, to train for public health emergency preparedness the health professionals who practice primarily in the state's medically underserved areas. Four educational modules--General Emergency Preparedness, Bioterrorism, Chemical and Radiologic Agents, and Emerging Infections--were developed and delivered by a trained, multidisciplinary, community-based faculty. The authors discuss the organization, partnerships, curriculum, faculty, characteristics of trainees, outcomes of the program, effects for AHECs, and the evaluation used to commit the organization and program process to the intended program objectives during the two-year period. Over 9,000 health professionals attended one or more of the 462 educational presentations. Approximately one third of attendees were physicians, and 82% of the learners were from sites that typically care for the underserved. Important to the success of the program (which still continues in a revised form) were the types of partnerships, an orientation of the curriculum to all-hazards disaster preparedness, the delivery of educational sessions at clinical sites, and the increased capacities of community AHECs to facilitate continuing professional education. The challenges were the diminished role of a key partner organization, uncertainties within the funding agency, and the widespread geographic area to address.

The Impact of Disasters on Populations With Health and Health Care Disparities

“…We reviewed 12 articles that met the inclusion criteria; however, only 7 pertained to disasters in medically underserved populations ( Table 2). [2][3][4]9,12,14,72 Of those 7,…”

“…9 Of the studies, 4 were cross-sectional, 2,9,12,14 and the remaining 3 were descriptive. 3,4,72 There were no relevant follow-up articles addressing the effects of a disaster on a community with preexisting medical underservice issues or subsequent ampli-fied health care disparities after the disaster. The following is a brief critique of each of the 4 cross-sectional studies.…”

“…2349121472 Of those 7, 5 concerned a natural disaster (ie, Hurricane Katrina),2341214 1 a bioterrorism disaster,9 and 1 concerned natural and technological disasters 72. There were 3 articles reporting studies of medically underserved populations,2372 and only 1 study explicitly targeted rural medically underserved communities 9. Of the studies, 4 were cross-sectional,291214 and the remaining 3 were descriptive 3472.…”

“…optimal healthcare to begin with, and they have a large number of these diseases that people who get less than optimal healthcare end up getting" that in turn "left this high-risk group in greater peril than those with better health and access to care." 72 The lay press has been at the forefront of this major public health issue, with thousands of newsprint articles discussing this issue now in circulation, while disaster epidemiology and health and health care disparities research have largely been out of touch, as seen by the paucity of peer-reviewed literature. Although it is difficult to say why, we could only speculate that the media's ability to identify this issue as "newsworthy" suggests that it is much more conscientious and responsive to issues faced by its audience.…”

Exercises in Emergency Preparedness for Health Professionals in Community Clinics

“…The cal-PEN developed six educational modules and delivered all hazards preparedness training to over 25,000 health professionals at various settings, predominantly in medically underserved areas throughout California. The modules covered general disaster preparedness, bioterrorism, chemical and radiological events, emerging infections, diseases following a disaster, and pandemic influenza [5]. …”