U of M Schools Help Minnesota Prepare for Pandemic

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (May 8, 2006)--If pandemic flu struck in Minnesota, would health care workers be prepared to work in circumstances more challenging than any they have ever experienced? Would they know how hospitals operate during a disaster, understand the chain of command, including their own role, or know what support they would receive from local, state, and federal governments? Would they have a basis for making ethical decisions about who receives scarce resources like ventilators, or medications like antivirals, antibiotics, and vaccines?

These and related complex issues will be the subject of two Emergency Readiness Rounds for health professionals offered at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus and via web cast. The first session will be Tuesday, May 9; the second will be held Wednesday, June 28.

The seminars are sponsored by Minnesota Emergency Readiness Education and Training (MERET), a program of the University of Minnesota’s School of Nursing and School of Public Health Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach. Funding comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

John Hick, M.D., assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Minnesota, will be the featured speaker on May 9.

A national authority and frequent lecturer on hospital preparedness, Hick has insight into intergovernmental emergency collaboration. At the Minnesota Department of Health, he is the Medical Director for the Office of Emergency Preparedness and for Hospital Bioterrorism Preparedness. Hick is also the Associate Medical Director for Emergency Medical Services and Medical Director for Emergency Preparedness at Hennepin County Medical Center. He is founder and current chair of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan Hospital Compact, a 27-hospital mutual aid and planning group that coordinates the regional disaster response of 29 hospitals in the Minneapolis/St. Paul and surrounding metropolitan area.

The $2.7 million federal grant establishing the MERET program, awarded to the Schools of Nursing and Public Health, is aimed at educating and training health care workers in emergency preparedness. The project tailors planning efforts to the needs of specific Minnesota communities as they prepare for a public health emergency or bioterrorism event. The goal is to reduce disease and injury by involving the public health system early in an emergency and by ensuring the various health care providers and government units coordinate their efforts. The project, collaborating with the Minnesota Department of Health and other organizations from across the state, will train nearly 10,000 Minnesota health workers over the next three years, using workshops, speakers, web casts, and CD-ROMs.

Carol O’Boyle, Ph.D., R.N., School of Nursing, is the MERET project director; Debra Olson, M.P.H., R.N., School of Public Health Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach, will lead training and curriculum development.

The sessions, available for continuing education credits, are intended for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, physician’s assistants, health care administrators, and advanced nurse practitioners. They are free, but space is limited for both in-person and web cast sessions, and registration is required for both. Register at http://ustar.ahc.umn.edu/register_event.cfm.

Planners encourage web cast participants to gather at their workplaces for discussion after the one-hour session. The web cast will be available online for later viewing. For more information about the sessions and MERET, visit www.meret.umn.edu.

The Academic Health Center is home to the University of Minnesota’s six health professional schools and colleges – including the Schools of Nursing and Public Health – as well as several health-related centers and institutes. Founded in 1851, the University is one of the oldest and largest land grant institutions in the country. The AHC prepares the new health professionals who improve the health of communities, discover and deliver new treatments and cures and strengthen the health economy.

Contact: Mary Pattock, School of Nursing, 612-624-0939
Diana Harvey, School of Public Health, 612-625-7134