Training public health disaster service workers: Public Health Preparedness and Response Competencies Program

Riverside County, CA, is susceptible to large-scale emergencies that know no borders such as earthquakes, high winds, fires, and floods. As an innovative response, Riverside County Department of Public Health developed the Public Health Preparedness and Response Competencies Program (PHPRCP). The program complies with a federally mandated training for emergency responders. It is uniquely designed to provide tools, knowledge, and practice in the field of public health emergencies and disaster response. All 1,700 Riverside County Community Health Agency (CHA) employees share the responsibility to respond as disaster service workers (DSW) and are required to participate in the program. PHPRCP is a multi-disciplinary, pro-active effort to disaster readiness not only for traditional first responders but within all levels of public health from upper management to clerical support. To better determine their roles and responsibilities during an event and to ensure that employees receive the appropriate level of training, all CHA employees are place into three categories: basic, intermediate and advanced. PHPRCP participants' knowledge regarding public health preparedness and response is evaluated using a pre/post test design. Of the 1,524 employees trained, significant improvement in score was demonstrated after training. Use of the knowledge acquired through the PHRCP was also tested and successfully demonstrated during the recent Southern California wildfires which required a multi-disciplinary response from CHA. Based on these initial findings, PHPRCP is a successful cross-border approach to disaster readiness for all public health emergency responders, both traditional and non-traditional.