ACEP Offers Free Training on Collaborative Disaster Planning

   Successful disaster preparedness occurs through strong collaboration, detailed and well-understood plans of action, and written agreements in place before a disaster occurs.

   Through an agreement with FEMA, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), has launched free integrative training that covers the development and maintenance of pre-incident plans to help ensure efficient distribution of patients, sharing of information and resources, and coordination between state and local agencies with hospitals and others responding to the medical needs of disaster victims. Additional topics include patient and resource tracking, credentialing systems, deployable federal resources, principles of community emergency planning, and more.

   This course is directed toward those working in emergency management agencies and healthcare organizations. It is also useful for those in public health, EMS, fire services, and other organizations involved in disaster preparedness.

   The four-hour online training is part of a training portal that has several components. Each state has its own virtual community to foster collaboration. Each virtual community includes a members section, the training modules, a Q&A section and a forum section.

   For more, see www.acep.org.