Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise

Abstract This resource is an interactive tabletop exercise portraying the early response to a public health emergency. Participants confront the challenges of detecting and identifying a public health emergency and initiate the response to the outbreak. Since process and decision making are more imp...

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Main Author: John Mahoney
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association of American Medical Colleges 2006-12-01
Series:MedEdPORTAL
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.395
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author John Mahoney
author_facet John Mahoney
author_sort John Mahoney
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description Abstract This resource is an interactive tabletop exercise portraying the early response to a public health emergency. Participants confront the challenges of detecting and identifying a public health emergency and initiate the response to the outbreak. Since process and decision making are more important than minute details, emphasis is placed on developing the best possible response through problem identification, coordination, and integration of capabilities. Major goals are to expose learners to the complexities of responding to a public health emergency and to the concept that the medical aspects of response are not necessarily the primary components. Ethical principles and the importance of collaborative efforts are also emphasized. The case does not assume any prior knowledge of a specific disease. The exercise combines role-play with a group approach to an ill-defined problem, comparable in some regards to typical problem-based learning. After a large-group situation briefing, participants break out into working groups and discuss probable actions and coordination efforts. Questions provided serve as a guide for group discussion. The group may choose to discuss additional topics. Facilitators guide and mediate the group discussions. Most students felt the overall quality of the exercise was good or outstanding. Students highly valued the hands-on nature of the session and remarked on the importance of the topic. One measure of the effectiveness of this package is that both students and faculty repeatedly indicated that it was useful and timely and that it should continue to be part of the core curriculum. This exercise provides an opportunity to address operational and policy-level responses to a public health emergency.
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spelling doaj.art-6d9932be20c84b8e8815d7f3e2bef4132022-12-21T19:51:09ZengAssociation of American Medical CollegesMedEdPORTAL2374-82652006-12-01210.15766/mep_2374-8265.395Public Health Emergency Tabletop ExerciseJohn Mahoney01 University of Pittsburgh School of MedicineAbstract This resource is an interactive tabletop exercise portraying the early response to a public health emergency. Participants confront the challenges of detecting and identifying a public health emergency and initiate the response to the outbreak. Since process and decision making are more important than minute details, emphasis is placed on developing the best possible response through problem identification, coordination, and integration of capabilities. Major goals are to expose learners to the complexities of responding to a public health emergency and to the concept that the medical aspects of response are not necessarily the primary components. Ethical principles and the importance of collaborative efforts are also emphasized. The case does not assume any prior knowledge of a specific disease. The exercise combines role-play with a group approach to an ill-defined problem, comparable in some regards to typical problem-based learning. After a large-group situation briefing, participants break out into working groups and discuss probable actions and coordination efforts. Questions provided serve as a guide for group discussion. The group may choose to discuss additional topics. Facilitators guide and mediate the group discussions. Most students felt the overall quality of the exercise was good or outstanding. Students highly valued the hands-on nature of the session and remarked on the importance of the topic. One measure of the effectiveness of this package is that both students and faculty repeatedly indicated that it was useful and timely and that it should continue to be part of the core curriculum. This exercise provides an opportunity to address operational and policy-level responses to a public health emergency.http://www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.395Outbreak/Disease OutbreakDisaster
spellingShingle John Mahoney
Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise
MedEdPORTAL
Outbreak/Disease Outbreak
Disaster
title Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise
title_full Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise
title_fullStr Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise
title_full_unstemmed Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise
title_short Public Health Emergency Tabletop Exercise
title_sort public health emergency tabletop exercise
topic Outbreak/Disease Outbreak
Disaster
url http://www.mededportal.org/doi/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.395
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