INTRODUCTION
It is essential that public health department employees are trained in core public health competency areas such as emergency preparedness and response. As disaster service workers, public health employees serve as first responders during a public health emergency or natural disaster. Therefore, it is critical that public health employees have the skill level and proficiencies to respond efficiently to bioterrorism and other public health threats. While the national public health workforce lacks a standard set of job titles and job classifications, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department plan offers a basis towards meeting the goal of a standardized public health workforce training material that can be adapted by state and local governments nationally.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s (SCCPHD) standardized Public Health Workforce Training Plan (PHWTP) is based on the analysis of specific skill sets required to fill public health functional job roles during an emergency response. The PHWTP serves to guide local public health agencies in the development of a response-ready workforce by defining emergency response teams, functional roles, job classifications, knowledge and capabilities, and the training resources needed for staff to respond during various emergency response scenarios. The emergency response teams included in this tool kit include mass prophylaxis, isolation and quarantine, risk communication, disease outbreak, and medical volunteers for disaster response (MVDR).

HOW TO USE THIS TOOLKIT

This web-based tool kit has been packaged on the internet using a “Search Engine”. Users may click on the pull down boxes to locate the information they are looking for within the training plan. In order to better understand how to navigate this tool kit, we have included a brief description of the tool kit’s content.

Emergency Response Teams
The PHWTP contains five emergency response teams: Mass prophylaxis, isolation and quarantine, risk communication, disease outbreak, and medical volunteers for disaster response (MVDR). Each team includes a brief summary, an organizational chart, and job descriptions. In accordance with ICS, the plan outlines the functional roles in their respective order of command.

Job Classifications and Functional Roles
There are 36 Job Classifications within this plan. You will find a brief description of each job classification and the overall category under which it is organized (administrative, clinical, management, etc). After clicking on the job classification of interest, you will be led to the functional roles typically associated with this position.  Functional roles are the positions required to staff the emergency response teams. This plan includes the suggested training requirements, knowledge, and capabilities needed to staff the functional positions.

Training Resources
The PHWTP tool kit includes a thorough list of training resources that can be used to assist public health staff to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform their functional roles during an emergency. Many of these resources are offered as on-line courses. We have provided the link to the training resource and the name of the organization sponsoring the training.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department gratefully acknowledges the assistance, support, and cooperation of all who contributed to the development of this toolkit.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Martin Fenstersheib, M.D., Santa Clara County Health Officer/Interim Public Health Department Director
Dolores Alvarado, Senior Manager, Santa Clara County Public Health Department
Rocio Luna, Senior Manager, Santa Clara County Public Health Department, Public Health Preparedness (SCCPHD PHP)
Chris Wilder, Health Education Specialist, SCCPHD PHP
Jacque Nash, Senior Health Care Analyst, SCCPHD PHP
Barb Walker, Senior Health Care Analyst, SCCPHD PHP
Sal Murillo, Health Education Specialist, SCCPHD PHP
Vicky Garcia, Health Education Specialist, SCCPHD
Molly Carbajal, Advanced Practice Center Coordinator, SCCPHD
Julianne Jones, Advanced Practice Center Health Education Specialist (previous) SCCPHD
Marilyn Cornier, Advanced Practice Center Manager (previous), SCCPHD
Jennifer Gacutan-Galang, Health Education Specialist, SCCPHD
Rafael Gameros, Information System Technician, Santa Clara County Health & Hospital System
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP)

We could not have undertaken this process without the support of an Advanced Practice Center (APC) Grant from the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Contact
Advanced Practice Center Coordinator
Public Health Preparedness
Santa Clara County Public Health Department
976 Lenzen Avenue
San Jose, CA 95126
T (408) 792-5040
F (408) 792-5041

http://www.sccphd.org
apc@hhs.sccgov.org