In a disaster, personnel from multiple disciplines—from EMTs and public health nurses to police officers and firefighters—must work together to ensure an effective community response. The best way to reduce potential problems in a real crisis is to teach health and safety personnel how to work together prior to an actual event. The Advanced Practice Center organizes trainings and “real world” exercises that develop and support these community partnerships, as well as identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Recent trainings and exercises organized by the Advanced Practice Center include:

• Multiple pandemic flu trainings and tabletop exercises for groups that have included health directors from Region 4b, Cambridge Health Alliance Hospitals, Greater Boston-area health and safety officials, City of Cambridge department heads and managers, and public health directors attending a national conference in Washington, D.C.
• Multiple trainings for hospital staff on identifying bomb threats and recognizing explosive materials.  The course was taught by the Cambridge Police Bomb Squad.
• Multiple training sessions for area hospitals and local health departments on the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
• Ongoing training for Cambridge Health Alliance staff on the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS).
• Monthly “tabletop” exercises for daily operations groups at Cambridge Health Alliance hospitals.  Past scenarios have included a dirty bomb incident, a blizzard, and a hospital unit fire.