USC-CPHP's First Annual Report

To view the Center's first-ever annual report on the accomplishments and challenges of the 2005-2006 grant year, CLICK HERE (opens as a PDF file).

Pocket Guide to Emergency Preparedness

The Pocket Guide to Emergency Preparedness was created by Worldways Social Marketing as the product of a collaborative effort of the USC-CPHP and their partners on the Training Advisory Sub-Committee, which include SC Prepares, DHEC and ETV, among others. The guides are currently being disseminated to the public and can be found in both English and Spanish by clicking on the links below. If you have trouble viewing the PDF files, please contact Kathleen Leopard at kleopard@gwm.sc.edu to obtain a hard copy of the guides.

English version: CLICK HERE

Spanish version: CLICK HERE

Nurses' Roles in Mass Casualty Events and Other Disasters

This PowerPoint presentation was given by Kristine Qureshi, RN, DNSc, of Adelphi University School of Nursing, at a March 2006 South Carolina Nurses Association workshop sponsored by the USC-CPHP. The presentation focuses on the role nurses will have to play in the event of a disaster and presents nursing concepts related to mass casualty and disaster plans, surge capacity and adapting to different standards and patterns of care in emergencies. CLICK HERE to view the slides or contact Jane Richter at richtejv@gwm.sc.edu for more information.

Enhancing Public Health Emergency Preparedness -- One Team at a Time

USC-CPHP Director Jane Richter, DrPH, RN, CHES, gave this Power Point presentation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Public Health Preparedness Region 4 Conference in Orlando, Florida, on April 26, 2006. The presentation gave a broad overview of how the USC-CPHP is collaborating with our practice partners in Public Health Preparedness Training and Development, SC DHEC's Office of Quality Management, to work on the Academy for Public Health Emergency Preparedness.

South Carolina Healthcare Emergency Amateur Radio Team (SCHEART) Products, Publications, and Forms

SCHEART represents a network of partners, engineers, and Ham radio operators supporting a state wide initiative to link healthcare facilities using ham radio as a source for communication redundancy.  

Healthcare Assessment Checklists are available to assist healthcare facilities and assessors with their walk through.  Please use these forms as a guide to facilitate consistency and to avoid oversight  from one facility to another.

USC-CPHP Waiver of Liability and Release these forms should be filled out and submit to the USC-CPHP prior to conducting any assessments or drills funded wholly or partially by the center.

Radio Response Team Volunteer Applications for individuals willing to serve as a Ham radio operator at a healthcare facility of their choice during a disaster or mass casualty event.  These individuals will work as a team with other local operators to train and provide support to the assigned agency.

If you have any questions about these or other products for Ham radio operators please contact Bill Dease at dease@sc.edu.

Food Defense: Protecting the Retail Food System from Intentional Contamination

As part of the Dean's Faculty Scholars program, Dr. Amy Brock-Martin, a research assistant professor in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management, researched intentional food contamination and the implications for public health. With the help of graduate student Sara Fehling, an educational module containing two didactic presentations was created to demonstrate to students in a public health nutrition course (HPEB 752) the increased concern over this threat of bioterrorism.

The first presentation gives an overview of the vulnerabilities within the retail food industry and points at which intentional contamination could occur within the food chain.

The second presentation is a food defense simulation exercise involving the intentional contamination of milk.

If you have any questions about the modules or would like a report of the findings from its implementation in HPEB 752, please contact Stephanie Thompson at thomp249@gwm.sc.edu.

Computer Module on Accidental and Planned Release of Hazardous Chemicals

As part of the Dean's Faculty Scholars in Public Health Preparedness program, Dr. Marjorie Aelion, a professor of Environmental Health Sciences (ENHS), and Melissa Engle, a research assistant in ENHS, implemented the Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) comprehensive software program as an educational module into ENHS 670, "Environmental Pollutants and Human Health."

The software program is used by primary responders to plan a response to a chemical release and was used to develop an exercise for graduate students in ENHS 670. Students were given the exercise (described in the PowerPoint presentation) and one class period with instruction to learn the computer programs CAMEO, ALOHA and MARPLOT. They were also given a fictional scenario involving the accidental release of chlorine at a facility located close to the University of South Carolina campus.

The total class module included an in-class didactic element, an out-of-class lab exercise, an off-campus field trip with response personnel, and student evaluations of the module.

• The in-class exercise can be found HERE
• A summary of this Dean's Faculty Scholars project can be found HERE
• The PowerPoint presentation giving an overview of the CAMEO software package and in-class exercise can be found HERE.

For more information about the implementation of this module, or for a summary of the evaluations of the module, please contact Stephanie Thompson at thomp249@gwm.sc.edu or 803-978-7580.

Readiness is All: Experiential and Interactive Learning Modules for Public Health Preparedness

Also as part of the Dean's Faculty Scholars program, the following team of investigators from the Arnold School of Public Health worked to implement educational modules in two Health Services Policy and Management (HSPM) courses: Sarah Laditka, PhD; James Laditka, DA, PhD; Carol Cornman, BS, RN, PA; Sudha Xirasagar, MBBS, PhD; Courtney Davis, MHA.

This project's goal was to improve the education of students in public health about preparedness for complex disasters and their role in the readiness process through an original case study of preparedness in South Carolina nursing homes and an experiential group project. The two courses in which the modules were implemented in the Fall of 2005 were HSPM 700 (Approaches and Concepts in Healthcare Administration) and HSPM 764 (Long Term Care Administration).

A PDF file contains the following documents: the original case study, the experiential exercises in HSPM 700 and 764, and student pre- and post-tests from the courses.

A PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the project in its entirety can be downloaded as well.

Graniteville, SC: Assessment of Persistent Health Effects in a Community Exposed to a Chlorine Gas Event

On January 6, 2005, a train derailed in central Graniteville, South Carolina, resulting in the release of approximately 60 tons of chlorine gas. This is a report, as of April 2006, of the ongoing public health surveillance for persistent and long-term health effects from acute exposure to chlorine gas. A PowerPoint presentation is also available of the epidemiological follow-up to the train wreck.