 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Heidi Scaife, RS, Rebecca Hysing, RS, Tim Gallagher, RS, and Christopher Kippes, MS. Division of Community Health Services, The Cuyahoga County Board of Health, 1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115, (216) 698-2380, hscaife@ccbh.net
Introduction: Historically, Military and Safety Forces have used the Incident Command System (ICS) when responding to major emergencies. Traditionally, ICS structure has not been routinely recognized or used by health department/medical agencies during public health emergencies. Due to recent threats of bioterrorism, disaster planning with numerous agencies is essential. A comprehensive understanding and training of ICS is needed within public health to strengthen existing disaster plans. Objective: To use an ICS structure to provide health department/medical community awareness and hands on training while conducting a countywide epidemiological investigation, a sero-prevalence survey for West Nile Virus. Methods: Multiple agencies including federal, state, and local health departments as well as private agencies, universities and medical communities operated under a unified command system. An Incident Action Plan (IAP) was created to identify specific functions and tasks. The ICS structure was adapted to reflect the necessary components for implementing the IAP. All personnel were introduced to the ICS structure and given proper training related to specific roles and responsibilities. Results: The study was successfully implemented using ICS structure. Over 100 public health and medical community personnel gained practical experience using the ICS structure. Conclusions: Implementing ICS structure during public health events (e.g. epidemiological study) is an effective and efficient mechanism to heighten awareness and to provide hands on training to health department staff and other medical agencies. Local health departments and medical communities should be encouraged to implement ICS structure as an effective time saver for successful staff training.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.