THE TWIN CITIES METRO ADVANCED PRACTICE CENTER
The Twin Cities Metro APC is a resource for local public health agencies throughout the nation as it develops plans and builds local and regional capacity for responding to an act of bioterrorism or other public health emergency.
What the Twin Cities Metro APC can do for you
The Twin Cities Metro APC has made unique contributions to the nation’s preparedness by developing training material for Environmental Health Professionals that address environmental health emergency preparedness, including development of a number of tools and resources for preparedness that can be used by public health departments nationwide. Some of these products include:
- Emergency Handbook for Food Managers CD-ROM which is an electronic version of the notebook-style hardcopy. The Emergency Handbook for Food Managers tool provides food service establishments, food safety trainers and government environmental health staff with a quick-reference handbook that is easy to use for emergency preparedness and response. To place an order, click here.
- Food Security & Safety Self Inspection Checklists that provide environmental health professionals and food managers with the tools for routine food security and safety evaluation by food service establishments. The two checklists address food security concerns such as inspecting products for signs of tampering, restricting access to records and food areas, and evaluating general food safety. The Food Security Self Inspection Checklist and the Food Safety Self Inspection Checklist are available for download here in English, Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Laotian, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
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In An Emergency: Food Service Fact Sheets provide food managers and environmental health professionals with guides for emergency preparedness on (1) recommended items to include in an emergency kit, and (2) making costly decisions after an emergency event. The two fact sheets address equipment and supplies useful for responding to an emergency and a single-page reference for deciding whether to salvage or discard food, furnishings, and equipment during clean-up and recovery. The In An Emergency: Equipment & Supplies List For Food Service Fact Sheet is available for download in English, Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Laotian, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. An English-only version of In An Emergency: Discard Or Salvage Fact Sheet, as well as translated versions (PDF 1 and PDF 2) in the languagues listed previously, are also available for download here.
- An Emergency Preparedness and Response Fundamentals training CD-ROM for environmental health professionals to address when responding to emergency events.
- Toolkits for retail food establishments that include: (1) an emergency handbook of protocols for food managers, (2) an emergency photo education set for food employees with a discussion guide for food managers.
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Emergency Preparedness at Twin Cities Metro Retail Food Establishments: An Outreach and Benchmark Survey (Vashé Research © 2005 for the Twin Cities Metro APC): A phone survey of food managers in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota metro area provides benchmark measures of the state of emergency preparedness at metro area food service establishments. Conducted using random, statistically significant sampling, the study provides information on such topics as preparedness training practices for new employees, whether establishments have an emergency plan, security practices, etc. Survey results also provide information on food manager preferences for development of an emergency alert system and for preparedness training.
More to come…
At the Twin Cities Metro APC, work is underway to continue to be a resource to public health departments. Future products include:
- Tools and education to licensed food establishments and other regulated sectors to facilitate risk reduction, early detection, and rapid response to natural or intentional contamination of the food supply.
- An Environmental Health Resource Kit that will include resource materials and Web site locations with specific technical information for supervisors and field staff regarding potential scenarios.
- The Emergency Community Health Outreach (ECHO) risk communication/public information system for reaching limited English immigrant and refugee populations with environmental health information during public health emergencies.
For more information on this APC or these tools, please contact:
Susan Palchick, PhD, MPH
Manager
1011 First Street South, Suite 215
Hopkins MN 55343
Tel: (612) 543-5200
Fax: (952) 351-5222
Email: susan.palchick@co.hennepin.mn.us
