This program is designed to give US hospital epidemiologists who oversee infection control programs the skills, knowledge, and tools to provide effective leadership during facility-level outbreaks and large-scale public health emergencies.
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SUPPORTING PARTNERS:
American Academy of Emergency Physicians | National Foundation for Infectious Diseases |
American Association of Critical Care Nurses | Pediatric Infectious Disease Society |
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists | Surgical Infection Society |
HCA Health System | The Joint Commission |
Guidance on this topic includes:
Expert Guidance Document: Preparedness and Response to Infectious Disease Outbreaks – November 2017
Concise, evidence-based and expert-led guidance and implementation strategies for incident management of facility and emerging pathogen outbreaks. Guidance will be derived from CDC and public health prevention guidelines and tool kits, implementation tools, expert consensus, and best practice recommendations that address preparedness and response to infectious diseases outbreaks.
The SHEA/CDC Outbreak Response Training Program (ORTP) created tool kits as a source for quick, concise information and resources to help you and your facility effectively manage outbreaks. Based on the “SHEA/CDC Expert Guidance Document: Preparedness and Response to Infectious Disease Outbreaks” published in 2017, these interactive tool kits help with actual implementation.
NEW COVID-19 Resources***
SHEA has added a COVID-19 tab to the ORTP tool kits. The COVID-19 tab includes a comprehensive implementation tool kit to help members carry out policy and practice changes by applying implementation science principles. The tool kit includes an Excel file “Quick Implementation Guide” that guides users through the full process by building on policies and practices suggested by SHEA members. Additionally, the new COVID-19 tab includes a consulting tool kit with information for healthcare epidemiologists and infection prevention experts interested in consulting opportunities during the pandemic.
TARGET AUDIENCE
This activity is designed to train US hospital epidemiologists who oversee infection control programs to have the skills, abilities, and tools available to implement infection control practices and respond to infectious threats.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Discuss lessons learned from prior outbreaks in order to prepare for emerging infections
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Describe currently emerging infectious diseases that are most likely to cause outbreaks, and implement screening procedures that would identify potential patients.
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Critique existing infection control policies and procedures and recognize gaps.
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Prepare a communication plan in order to communicate effectively with the public and media during the next outbreak/crisis.
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Define the role of the hospital epidemiologist in public health emergencies.
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Apply and evaluate current screening methods used to identify potential public health emergencies.
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Determine strategies to ramp up, step down, and maintain emergency preparation and containment efforts for high-consequence infection pathogen.