Kevin N. Saisi, Unit Coordinator of the Western Maine Medical Reserve Corps leadership will be attending the 2009 Integrated Medical, Public Health, Preparedness and Response Training Summit in Dallas, Texas
April 4th to April 8th, 2009.
The Training Summit is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and brings together several national-level entities that have, in the past, held separate organizational meetings, training summits and leadership conferences. These organizations include the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). The combination into an integrated Training Summit permits coordination, collaboration and interaction amongst the target audience – the leaders and members of these response partner organizations.
The Training Summit will enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of participants, which in turn will improve their competency to deliver public health and medical care services during disasters of any origin. Expert faculty will present on key topics such as clinical care, leadership skills, volunteer management practices, and response team issues. Networking with these expert faculty members and fellow participants, many of whom are the nation’s leaders in the area of public health emergencies, will give access to the latest in emergency response and coordination capabilities.
The vision for the 2009 Integrated Medical, Public Health, Preparedness and Response Training Summit is to have a robust, well-trained, and integrated pool of public health and medical responders in which all members understand their roles and missions, as well as those of their response partners, in order to best serve our communities, States, Tribes, and the Nation. The Training Summit will achieve that vision by convening a forum for conducting training, discussing issues, sharing information, and networking amongst the constituent groups of various national-level organizations involved in preparing for and responding to public health and medical emergency events.
Some specific strategies for 2009 include:
- Reinforce the relationships between the response partner organizations
- Focus on all-hazards approaches
- Enable facilitated, interactive learning opportunities
The goal is to provide a national training summit for full-time, intermittent and other potential Federal, State and local responders (i.e. PHS, NDMS, MRC, ESAR-VHP), as well as the leaders of the various component organizations. The summit will focus on skills development, knowledge enhancement and information sharing regarding the variety of support services necessary during a public health emergency.
Following the Training Summit, participants will be better trained for their respective missions and will understand how other public health and medical response components contribute to the full spectrum of
care available during an emergency.
The Medical Reserve Corps program coordinates volunteers to assist health care systems when they become overwhelmed. Such situations can include major emergencies such as chemical releases or public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks. They also assist with sheltering of persons with medical and mental health needs that would have difficulty in a typical shelter environment. Learn more about the
Medical Reserve Corps at www.medicalrerservecorps.gov or www.WesternMaineMRC.org ; contact them at info@oxfordcountymrc.org or by phone 357-1821.
