A brief history of the project...
California Native American Research Center for Health (CA-NARCH)
In 2001, Indian Health Council, Inc. (IHC), Pauma Valley, CA, San Diego State University (SDSU), and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) were awarded a grant to establish the California Native American Research Center in Health (CA-NARCH). The major goals of the CA-NARCH were to provide a coalition of state and federally recognized tribes, urban Indian communities, and academic institutions to build a collegial partnership based on respect and reciprocity between the San Diego County American Indian communities and the local major research institutions.
Year One: Curriculum Development of NAAEP (2002 - 2003)
In November, 2002, a small grant was awarded to IHC/SDSU to develop a terrorism and disaster preparedness demonstration project in conjunction with the CA-NARCH project, with the goal to build a template for training in other rural and urban American Indian health clinics throughout the state of California. The project design focused on educating health care providers, assessing pilot sentinel surveillance procedures, and making recommendations to providers in order to improve response and disaster preparedness. A curriculum for terrorism preparedness was developed, evaluated, and revised. Two educational workshops were provided in San Diego County.
Year Two: Interactive Tutorials with ScienceMedia (2003-2004)
In addition to the annual educational workshops, Year Two also incorporated a Table Top simulation drill to explore the application of the skills learned in the workshops by previous participants. To expand the target audience additional local members invited to the educational and table top workshops included emergency responders. A website was developed as well as online tutorials to further enhance training of health care providers; additionally collaboration with ScienceMedia began to develop case-based, animated tutorials.
Year Three: Disaster Preparedness Plans with The Council of Community Clinics (2004-2005)
In addition to the annual education workshop for terrorism preparedness, emergency operations plan training workshops were developed by the Council of Community Clinics in conjunction with NAAEP and were implemented in two workshops in the Spring of 2005. A goal of emergency preparedness for the California Indian Health Service is to provide resources to aid in the development of emergency operations plans for Indian clinics statewide. Additional training tools were developed with ScienceMedia including online simulation training tools similar in structure to the Table Top exercise implemented in Year Two and interactive training tutorials.
Year Four: Inter-Agency Collaboration (2005-2006)
In year four, the NAAEP developed a collaboration with federal, state, and local emergency preparedness and Indian Health agencies to better serve all Indian Health Clinics in California. The collaboration is described in greater detail on the Inter-Agency Collaboration pages on this website. Along with the partners in the collaboration, an annual emergency operations plan training workshop was implemented in the spring of 2006. Additionally, a clinic disaster preparedness questionnaire was implemented as a baseline in January and as a follow-up in September of 2006 to assess the overall preparedness of all California Indian Health Clinics and as surveillance for any improvement due to activities in year four. Finally, the collaboration also disseminated existing resources available to California Indian Health Clinics including local Public Health Officers and Emergency Medical Service Agency contacts.
Also, in collaboration with NAAEP resources, the Department of Health Services, Indian Health Program provided two consultants to provide on-site training and technical assistance (TA) for select Indian Health Clinics in California. Target clinics were identified through the results of the Clinic Disaster Preparedness Questionnaire results; the consultants assisted Tribal leaders to establish communication with local County public health officials and to promote community awareness to ensure that American Indian communities are prepared for emergencies. Additionally, the consultants provided on-site teaching and training to clinic staff in the development of the clinic's Emergency Operations Plan.
Year Five: Additional Training Focusing on Avian/Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Personal Protective Equipment (2006-2007)
In the fifth year, the NAAEP along with collaborating partners, continues its activities including the annual emergency operations plan training workshop and the clinic disaster preparedness questionnaire. In addition, the NAAEP faculty and partners will also be focusing on pandemic and avian influenza preparedness and the appropriate use of personal protective equipment given the timeliness of the potential biological events. Finally, the NAAEP faculty continues to contribute to the scientific community and the literature available by presenting at national and international conferences and publishing on the successful methodologies of the project.
Ongoing technical assistance continues through the DHS Indian Health Program. In addition, the Indian Health Program has engaged in a literature search on current information regarding American Indian emergency preparedness in conjunction with the University of California, Davis, Department of Native American Studies. The results of the literature search will hopefully evaluate current efforts and elucidate effective means of providing thorough information to the America Indian community regarding emergency preparedness.
Year Six: Networking and Establishing Partnerships and Collaborations (2007-2008)
The sixth year of the project, along with collaborating agencies and partners, the NAAEP sought to improve and help establish partnerships between Indian Health Clinics, local Public Health Departments, and critical first responders. The main focus of this project year will be to assist in the development and strengthening of relationships between essential emergency response agencies and clinics in Indian country through organized workshops, technical assistance, and potentially virtual tabletop exercises. Continued surveillance of overall emergency preparedness of all California Indian Health Clinics enable the NAAEP and partners to assess potential improvements in readiness and to highlight vulnerable target areas in need of further attention.
Year Seven: Building Surge Capacity during an Emergency or Disaster (2008-2009)
An major event with mass casualties during an emergency or disaster could easily overwhelm an already overtaxed health care system and especially Indian Health Clinics with limitations on space and personnel. Pre-event planning, preparedness, and training are essential to a successful response and recovery. Collaboration and partnerships with local hospitals, health departments, law enforcement, community based organizations, and emergency responders ensure the most efficient and optimized response and use of limited resources and personnel. The major focus of year 7 for the NAAEP is preparing for a surge of casualties and patients during a major event or outbreak.
