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The APC Network
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Mesa County Advanced Practice Center |
Located in western Colorado, the Mesa County APC recognized that hospitals have a difficult time retaining staff and that many hospitals have not used volunteer nurses or other medical professionals during an emergency response. The Mesa County APC will develop and test a toolkit that includes information on the following:
- Identifying roles in hospitals appropriate for using medical volunteers in an emergency;
- Identifying action steps to implement a medical volunteer program in a hospital;
- Developing policies and procedures for the use of Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers in a hospital;
- Developing Just-in-Time training curriculum; and
- Conducting a functional exercise using MRC volunteers in a rural hospital.
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| Contact: Marsha Thorson
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Montgomery County Advanced Practice Center |
Located outside Washington, DC, the Montgomery County APC will focus on a range of preparedness issues and will develop the following resources:
- Just-in-Time training to orient non-medical volunteers to their role of assisting people with non-urgent medical needs;
- An electronic Alternative Care Site (ACS) Medical Surge Model to help users set-up an ACS;
- Engaging community pharmacists to help communities prepare; and
- Online training on computer modeling in preparedness.
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| Contact: Rachel Abbey
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Multnomah County Advanced Practice Center |
Located in northwest Oregon, the Multnomah County APC will focus on Just-in-Time training to help local health departments (LHDs) prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. Resources will include the following:
- Training materials designed for incident response managers including information on the behavioral and emotional needs of first responders;
- Risk assessment practices to help managers split resources; and
- Just-in-Time training products for staff working on epidemiological investigation activities or Point of Dispensing operations.
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Contact: Beth McGinnis
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San Francisco Advanced Practice Center |
| Located in a state home to many public health emergencies including fires, floods, and earthquakes, the San Francisco Bay Area AC will develop comprehensive toolkits on the topics of infectious disease emergencies and vaccination assessment.
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The Infectious Disease Emergency Response (SIDE) Toolkit will contain:
- A core plan that address the functions that may be activated to address an infectious disease emergency event;
- Situation-specific annexes;
- Modifiable templates and forms, including public health-specific ICS forms, job action sheets, and organizational charts; and
- Modifiable training materials for local health departments to use in training staff on their own SIDE Plan.
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The Seasonal Pandemic Influenza Vaccination Implementation (SIVA) Toolkit will provide guidance on the following:
- Community assessment for preparedness;
- Survey management and implementation; and
- Online and electronic tools for community assessment.
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Contact: Shannon Limbic
Website: www.sfbayapc.org |
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Seattle & King County Advanced Practice Center |
The Seattle & King County APC, located within the largest metropolitan health department in the United States, will create multiple resources that include the following:
- A comic book to communicate personal preparedness messages to limited English proficient populations;
- A toolkit to assist LHDs enhance the capacity of their call center;
- A toolkit to help LHDs create effective and sustainable dispensing strategies;
- Resources to address the informational and behavioral needs of disaster victims' families; and
- A toolkit focusing on business continuity in an emergency.
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| Contact: Carina Elsenboss
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| Website: http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/apc.aspx |
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South Carolina Advanced Practice Center |
The South Carolina APC, housed in the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Region 7, serves a population of more than 600,000 across three counties. The South Carolina APC will focus on security issues during various public health emergency response activities. Resources will include the following:
- A healthcare and law enforcement workshop template to engage law enforcement agencies in public health preparedness planning;
- A Point of Dispensing security and traffic management template; and
- A hospital security plan template for medical surge.
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| Contact: Ann Sports
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Tarrant County Advanced Practice Center |
The Tarrant County APC, located in Fort Worth, TX, will develop a number of projects including the following:
- A toolkit to assist LHDs in establishing health data surveillance programs in school settings;
- A disaster mental health and psychological first aid module for radiological and nuclear events;
- Business preparedness resources for Hispanic businesses; and
- An evaluation framework and guidance document to help LHDs assess the quality of emergency communications (fact sheets, virtual Joint Information Centers, and Point of Dispensing signage).
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| Contact: Bill Stephens
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Toledo-Lucas County Advanced Practice Center |
Located in northwest Ohio, the Toledo-Lucas County APC will develop a toolkit to enhance LHDs capability of responding during a pandemic. The Transitional Framework for Pandemic Readiness and Response toolkit will provide resources to help communities identify when and how to move from traditional to transitional medicine and will focus on various frameworks including urban, suburban, and rural. The toolkit will include the following:
- A guide to the Transitional Framework for Pandemic Readiness;
- Train-the-Trainer manual for a transitional medicine tabletop exercise; and
- Train-the-Trainer manual for a traditional medicine tabletop exercise.
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| Contact: Greg Moore
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| Website: http://www.lucascountyhealth.com/apc |
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Since the APC Program's inception in 2004, a number of LHDs have served as an APC. While a part of the APC network, these LHDs developed outstanding tools and resources for other LHDs nationwide. Alumni APCs include the following:
- Cambridge Public Health Department (MA);
- DeKalb County Board of Health (GA);
- Santa Clara County Public Health Department (CA);
- St. Paul-Ramsey County, Hennepin County, and the City of Minneapolis (MN); and
- Western New York Public Health Alliance.
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APC Connector Sites |
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The Advanced Practice Centers (APC) Connector Sites Initiative is designed to expand the APC network, and to support field testing and quality improvement of selected APC products. Each Connector site is paired with an APC Site, and the APC Site’s product. Developed by local health departments and funded as Advanced Practice Center Sites, the products are designed to strengthen the capacity and capabilities of local health departments to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters and other public health emergencies. The 2010–2011 Connector Sites, and the new APC products that they are testing, are listed below.
- Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (IL) – Reviewing Transitional Framework for Pandemic Readiness and Response (developed by Toledo-Lucas County Advanced Practice Center).
- Gunnison County Department of Health & Human Services (CO) -Reviewing Blueprint for the Use of Volunteers in Hospitals (developed by Mesa County Advanced Practice Center).
- Palm Beach County Health Department (FL) - Reviewing A Prescription for Preparedness: An Online Community for Local Health Departments and Pharmacist to help Ready America for Emergencies (developed by Montgomery County Advanced Practice Center).
- Coastal Health District (GA) - Reviewing On the Safe Side: A Security Toolkit for Public Health Emergencies (developed by South Carolina Advanced Practice Center).
- Southern Nevada Health District (NV) -Reviewing Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) Toolkit (developed by San Francisco Advanced Practice Center).
- Cerro-Gordo County Department of Public Health (IA) - Reviewing Sustaining Critical Services: Continuity of Operations Toolkit for Public Health (developed by Seattle & King County Advanced Practice Center).
- Thurston County Public Health and Social Services Department (WA) - Reviewing Inclusive Just-In-Time Training for Public Health Investigations (developed by Multnomah County Advanced Practice Center).
- Oklahoma City-County Health Department (OK) -Reviewing Biosurveillance Solutions Toolkit (developed by Tarrant County Advanced Practice Center).
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