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| The USA Center for Strategic Health Innovation recently was awarded two grants. Dr. David Wallace (shown above), director of preparedness training, said this award will allow the Center to continue to provide some of the best healthcare emergency preparedness training in the country. |
The grants – Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Training (ARRTC) and Alabama Incident Management System (AIMS) – are a continuation of a ten-year relationship with the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Housed in the College of Medicine at USA, the Center for Strategic Health Innovation (CSHI) is a nationally recognized leader in the delivery of advanced healthcare emergency preparedness teaching and training, as well as innovative healthcare technology applications and the development and deployment of healthcare technology platforms.
Dr. David Wallace, director of preparedness training at USA’s Center for Strategic Health Innovation, said this award will allow the Center to continue to provide some of the best healthcare emergency preparedness training in the country.
The Advanced Regional Response Training Center (ARRTC), is a Center for Strategic Health Innovation healthcare emergency preparedness training program that offers both on campus and on site courses throughout Alabama designed to train healthcare facility personnel on emergency preparedness and response. Topics covered include patient surge capacity and capability preparedness, management of biological/infectious disease outbreaks, decontamination of patients, chemical exposures, evacuation of healthcare facilities and numerous other subjects.
Dr. Wallace said an online, distant learning course is being developed to train health care emergency professionals to effectively manage a health care facility emergency management program. It is a four-module program to include: leadership and administration; planning elements for emergency operations during disaster response; external/governmental resource management; and practical application in disaster planning.
The USA Center for Strategic Health Innovation also manages the Alabama Incident Management System (AIMS). AIMS was created in-house at USA in 2003 and first deployed during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. This data capture software employs Healthcare Incident Command System (HICS) principals and community collaboration relationships to capture real-time information about healthcare facility resources and activities. It allows and encourages ongoing, real-time communication between healthcare facilities and State Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs), tracking staff, facilities and supplies in times of normalcy and for distribution in times of stress.
“Our format is unique and extremely effective,” Dr. Wallace said. “By managing AIMS – Alabama's healthcare information software – we will continue to provide the Alabama Department of Public Health the ability to have situation awareness throughout the state. AIMS is essential for good communication and effective response during disasters in Alabama.”
