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SC AHEC network guides practitioner's response during crisis by Cindy Abole Public Relations Managing health care professionals and first responders without a response plan during a disaster or community health emergency can be as chaotic as surviving the event itself.   So as British police and emergency workers reacted to the July 7 terrorist attacks on London’s subway and bus systems, emergency response organizers and the British public applauded the quick response and actions of emergency crews. The outcome  was a result of both a little luck and constant preparation that saved lives.    In South Carolina and other communities around the country, health care practitioners and allied health workers are receiving comparable training, education and support, thanks to federal funding and a national effort to train and prepare personnel to effectively assist others during a natural disaster or terrorist threat.      In 2003, South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (AHEC) was among a handful of state agencies who received a two-year, $2.1 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant supporting bioterrorism preparedness for health care professionals. The awards were established following the country’s response to 9-11, anthrax scares and other terrorist acts that threatened America’s national security and people's safety. In today’s world, emergency organizers are seeking ways to improve the state’s disaster response system and evaluating the training of response professionals and their changing roles during emergencies.     “With today's level of terrorist threats and activity, frontline health care professionals and emergency medical workers are not only required to perform their own jobs, but must be able to share duties and collaborate with other responders during a bioterrorism threat or public health emergency,” said David Garr, M.D., executive director for South Carolina AHEC and the bioterrorism project’s principal investigator.      For this effort, Garr assembled a team of experienced bioterrorism, health care professionals and statewide partners who act as resources to help prepare training specialists in four regional AHEC centers across the state. Garr recognized the team’s expertise and creative, interactive approach for skill building and preparation in targeted groups.   The specialists are part of a Bioterrorism (BT) and Public Health Emergencies Training Network that supports AHEC offices in the Upstate, Pee Dee, Mid-Carolina and Lowcountry areas of South Carolina.   The network is responsible for training a core of the state’s health care workforce including primary care physicians, nurses, physician assist-ants, dentists, pharma-cists, emergency medical workers and social/mental health profession-als through continuing medical education courses and online training.   So far, more than 9,000 specialists have been trained, logging more than 900 hours.   The state’s risks are heightened by the presence of five statewide nuclear power facilities, the Port of Charleston as the nation’s fourth busiest container ports, the military presence of the Charleston Air Force Base and its active fleet of C-17 transport planes, and other threats for bioterrorism and even natural disasters including hurricanes.   AHEC’s bioterrorism team is led by Garr, co-director Ralph Shealy, M.D., former chief of MUSC’s emergency medicine and medical director for operations at Charleston County EMS and Charleston County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad; Beth Kennedy, South Carolina AHEC associate director for education and project director and Deborah Stier Carson, Pharm.D., former director of community-based practice develop-ment in the College of Pharmacy and bioterrorism project manager, plus other health professionals.   To date, Garr and the BT Training network were successful in conducting collaborative educational training programs across the state. Some of the results of their sharing and collabor-ation produced outcomes with great potential as training tools and expertise to improve the process.     One example of a developed educational resource is a terrorism tool kit, which includes information and hands-on examples demonstrating the contamination of chemicals and other toxins or the contents of a mock pipe bomb, another terrorism tool used to inflict injury and death. Another outcome is the team’s collaborative work with the South Carolina Dental Association to develop a forensic dentistry team to assist with victim identification following a mass casualty event.   “There’s a real need for groups to learn how to work together and take a team approach to this,” said Garr. “By doing so, we share our respect and confidence in others and their abilities. This emphasizes the need for medical personnel along with police, fire and EMS to collaborate and work from the same page.”   For the past 18 months, more training was developed and focused on with various health care practitioners.   On Aug. 12, the BT network will sponsor bioterrorism and preparedness programs for nurses in Florence and pharmacists, Aug. 27 in Columbia. The team also plans to organize similar training for South Carolina primary care physicians this fall.      On July 23, South Carolina AHEC will team with the American Red Cross in a program to guide and train health care professionals and disaster volunteers in understanding and defining their roles, during a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The daylong program will focus on the changing scope of practice and standard of care during a disaster event. Upcoming South Carolina AHEC Bioterrorism Training Saturday, July 23: “What Every Healthcare Disaster Volunteer Needs to Know” (sponsored by Mid-Carolina AHEC, American Red Cross, South Carolina DHEC). 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Palmetto Health Richland Auditorium, Columbia. (803) 287-4906 Friday, Aug. 12: S.C. Bioterrorism Preparedness Program for Nurses (sponsored by Pee Dee AHEC) 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,McNair Science Building Auditorium, Francis Marion University, Florence. (843) 457-7277 Saturday, Aug. 27: Annual Bioterrorism Update for Pharmacists. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Seawells Conference Center, Columbia. (803) 287-4906      For more information, visit the South Carolina AHEC Web site at http://www.scahec.net. South Carolina AHEC Bioterrorism Network Core Team Dr. David Garr, principal investigator; Beth Kennedy, BT project director; Dr. Ralph Shealy, co-director; Dr. Deborah Stier Carson, project manager; Dr. William Simpson, CME director; Dr. Connie Best, mental health consultant; Dr. Harold Gable, public health consultant; Dr. Michael Schmidt, infectious disease consultant; Dr. Yvonne Michel, evaluation specialist; Dr. Mary Mauldin, Web Master; Dr. Frances Lee, database coordinator; Ragan DuBose, Public Relations coordinator; Donald Tyner, associate program director for administration/finance     Friday, July 15, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.