This September marks the 13th annual National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The theme for 2016 is, “Don't Wait, Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.”
Today’s public health professionals must be prepared to respond to a range of emergencies. TRAIN, a national learning network for professionals who protect and improve the public’s health, enables learners to search for and access training that builds critical preparedness skills. With both the Public Health Preparedness (PHEP) Capabilities and Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) Core Competencies integrated into TRAIN, public health professionals can search for courses directly aligned with these competencies and capabilities.
National Preparedness Month is divided into five weeks, with a focused theme for each week, and TRAIN has numerous courses connected to these themes (themes hyperlinked lead to TRAIN courses):
- Week 1 (August 28-September 3): Kickoff to National Preparedness Month
- Week 2 (September 4-10): Preparing Family & Friends
- Week 3 (September 11-17): Preparing Through Service
- Week 4 (September 18-24): Individual Preparedness
- Week 5 (September 25-30): Lead up to National Day of Action
In addition, National Preparedness Month partners encourage individuals, their families, communities, and workplaces to join in America’s PrepareAthon! by planning a National PrepareAthon! Day on September 30th. A national community-based campaign, America’s PrepareAthon! focuses on increasing emergency preparedness through hazard-specific drills, group discussions, and exercises.
Begin your preparedness learning during National Preparedness Month by creating a TRAIN account and browsing the emergency readiness subject area. You can also visit Ready.gov to explore other ways to get involved during National Preparedness Month. Lastly, be sure to follow TRAIN’s Facebook and Twitter feeds and the #NatlPrep and #NPM16 hashtags for highlighted trainings and news throughout September.
Additional National Preparedness Month Resources
Foundations of Public Health Preparedness Training Plan: To increase awareness of the PHPR Core Competencies and PHEP Capabilities, the Public Health Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) jointly developed the Foundations of Public Health Preparedness Training Plan. Available on TRAIN, the plan provides public health professionals who are not preparedness experts with a way to easily access a vetted list of courses that can build an understanding of public health preparedness in support of their agency's or organization's efforts. Courses in the training plan are assigned PHPR Core Competencies and/or PHEP Capabilities and were chosen through a subject matter expert review process from the vast course offerings on TRAIN. Register or log on to TRAIN today to take the training plan.
Evaluating Emergency Preparedness and Response Trainings: A Knowledge Repository: Built to provide one-stop access to evaluation tools developed by the Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Centers (PERLC), Evaluating Emergency Preparedness and Response Trainings: A Knowledge Repository is designed to serve as a guide and framework to promote evidence-based evaluations of emergency preparedness and response trainings and learning products and measure their impact toward improving workforce readiness. Structured around the Kirkpatrick model for evaluating training, this knowledge repository includes training evaluation templates and guides organized by the four Kirkpatrick training evaluation levels; course and exercise materials; and links to other PERLC-developed toolkits, guides, and resources. These tools and resources provide support for the emergency preparedness and response workforce, including organizations, institutions, and programs, interested in improving and measuring the impact of their emergency preparedness and response learning products.