Classroom and Field Training

1. CBRNE and Other Public Health Emergencies

Pacific EMPRINTS offers a number of face-to-face classes throughout the year on CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) events and other public health emergencies. The classes range from a few hours to 16 hours. Our instructors are knowledgeable and very experienced. A number of our classes also offer CE and CME credits. Instructors are also available to conduct general awareness classes at conferences, seminars and colloquia. Please call our assistant program officers at 956-9490 or 956-0895 for a schedule of classes or to book our instructors for your next professional development conference.

2. Geographic Information Technologies for Emergency Preparedness and Response

This four-day course introduces participants to geographic information system (GIS) and global positioning system (GPS) technologies and their applications to emergency management, preparedness and response. Course is applicable to a variety of health professions, first responders and disaster managers and is designed to enhance awareness, understanding and decisionmaking through the use of GIS technology and digital mapping.

For more information, including the currently scheduled course dates: Read more

Other GIS-related courses:

• Introduction to Geoprocessing Scripts using Python
• Working with ArcGIS Spatial Analyst

3. ADAP/Paravet Program at CTAHR

The ADAP/Paravet Program at CTAHR (College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources) is associated with American Samoa, Pohnpei, Guam, Palau, Majuro and Saipan.

This faculty and staff network brings over 480 people together, including highly skilled public health and other health professionals and epidemiologists. Paraveterinarians provide a service that is much needed since many countries and islands in the Pacific lack the services of trained veterinarians or sometimes because there are none available. For outbreaks of animal diseases such as Foot-and-Mouth disease, swine influenza or avian influenza, the trained ability to track, identify and report in an expedient and accurate way the suspected disease can be facilitated with the use of GIS to better ensure health and safety for the affected populations.

4. Multidisciplinary Live Training Events

The most recent live training event was conducted on May 4th, 2006 at the Waipio Soccer Complex in Honolulu, HI, and involved over 150 personnel from Emergency Medical Services, Mobile Vaccination Team, Honolulu Fire Department and HAZMAT Team, and the Honolulu Police Department. They responded to a mock dirty bomb explosion on a large tourist bus carrying passengers outside of a 4,000 person capacity soccer stadium. Actors were used to represent victims and other bystanders.

In live training events, each agency responds using its established protocols as if it were a real event, and the true nature of the event unfolds in real-time. Events are run from the initial report of the incident to securing the site and removing any potential follow on disasters, such as secondary explosives to triaging all victims and evacuating the patients to hospitals.

These live training events run between 3-4 hours and allow different agencies to work together in response to mock emergency scenarios that could be real situations at any time in their actual work environments. The scenarios are general enough that they can be duplicated on other islands and in other states by comparable agencies for those areas. The Pacific EMPRINTS live training events can involve all the disciplines in the health professions, and each event would include a different CBRNE scenario.

All participants must complete eight (8) hours of either a General Awareness or Basic Disaster Life Support class prior to the live training event. These occur at least 3-4 times a year. Refresher courses or Advanced Disaster Life Support classes (16hr) are also provided during the year. Interested individuals should call the Department of Emergency Medical Services at (808) 734-9330 for more information. Continuing education (CE) credits are available for both classes and live training events.