Disaster Management Trainings
A cross-disciplinary and coordinated approach to planning and response is essential to protect and assist in preparing for disasters and emergencies and building resilience. Our Environmental Public Health Disaster Management Trainings support developing a more skilled, prepared, and dynamic environmental public health workforce to help meet community needs before, during, and following disasters. They are designed to equip environmental public health professionals and partners with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively coordinate and respond to environmental public health hazards and threats in disasters.
The trainings adopt a team-based approach to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated response to both natural and human-made disasters. The focus extends across various critical areas that are often impacted during disasters, including food safety, water safety, wastewater management, sanitation, solid waste, vector control, shelter operations, and other environmental public health concerns. Additional areas included in the trainings and that are essential to effective disaster response include responder safety, developing and deploying environmental public health strike teams, performing foodborne outbreak investigations, risk communication and media management, and community resilience.
Target Audience
- Environmental public health professionals with a range of experience levels, from those new to the field to seasoned veterans
- Public health professionals working in emergency preparedness and response
The following modules and objectives will be covered:
Training Part 1
Disaster Shelter Operations
Within this module, participants will:
- Increase their understanding of shelter issues faced in disasters
- Increase understanding of the role of environmental public health practitioners in addressing shelter issues
- Be able to identify key response partners
- Increase understanding of the basic components of shelters
- Practice and demonstrate basic skills related to shelter assessments
- Identify key messages for the public and response partners
Disaster Risk Communications
By the end of this module, participants will be able to:
- Understand the significance and relevance of effective risk communication during disasters
- Identify effective methods in communicating during disasters and emergencies
- Learn how to work with the media to communicate essential information during disasters
- Understand how to manage dis- & mis-information
Food Safety in Disasters
By the end of this module, participants will be able to:
- Explain the role of environmental public health practitioners in addressing food safety issues.
- Identify food safety issues faced in disasters.
- Describe the basic elements of food safety.
- Identify key response partners.
- Identify key messages for the public, industry, and response partners
- Practice and demonstrate basic skills for assessing food safety
Training Part 2
Potable Water in Disasters
By the end of this module, participants will be able to:
- Assure the availability of safe water in disasters and emergencies
- Prevent waterborne illness outbreaks
- Identify and plan for emergency water supply
Solid Waste & Wastewater Management in Disasters
Within this module, participants will:
- Understand the function of Environmental Public Health and key partners involved
- Identify the impacts of disasters on wastewater systems
- Understand water sanitation, monitoring and evaluation
- Emergency waste collection
- Wastewater control and clean up
Disease Vector & Rodent Behavior & Control
Within this module, participants will:
- Increase their understanding on pests and vectors of public health importance and how they may increase in number after a disaster.
- Learn initial management options for pest management on long term control.
- The role of the environmental public health practitioners before, during, and after a disaster or emergency will be defined.
- Knowledge about this topic will allow the health professional to correctly answer questions about vectors and pests after an emergency, provide recommendations about best practices to local officials, and to assist in integrated pest management.
Scheduled Trainings
North Carolina
Disaster Shelter ops, Disaster Risk Coms, and Food Safety in Disasters Modules
- Raleigh, NC, May 13 - 14
- Asheville, NC, May 16 - 17
Limited to 25 participants
Potable water, Solid waste, and Disaster Vector & Rodent Behavior & Control Modules
- Raleigh, NC, June 17 - 18
- Asheville, NC, June 20 - 21
Limited to 25 participants