Adapting a preparedness curriculum for women

Given recent experiences with flooding and other disasters, preparedness is becoming a way of life. Various specialty areas of public health may be involved with responding to emergencies or natural and technological disasters that result from a whole host of causes but with similar outcomes, in terms of human and other adverse effects. These include floods, fires, winter storms/summer heat, mine subsidence, landslides, hurricanes, tornados, power outages, water emergencies, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, industrial accidents/ releases, earthquakes / tsunami, chemical/biological/ radiological/nuclear (cbrne)-terrorism, and the dreaded specter of pandemic influenza. Whatever the cause, responding agencies are charged with one mission – preparedness, response, control and mitigation. The purpose of this presentation is to share how a new regional strategic collaborative training program can be modified to meet the specific needs of women across the lifespan. Certainly there are many physiologic similarities between the sexes, but there are also differences. How can we best maximize training efforts to realize optimum gains for all and increase readiness/response capabilities? Session participants will discuss and learn about one such effort arising from the development of a regional preparedness training curriculum, including the need for interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary training.