Public Health Preparedness & Response Model

ASPPH developed workforce-level competencies that demonstrate the abilities that not only a public health professional involved in preparedness work must display, but which are recommended for all members of the public health workforce to enhance their readiness to response to public health disasters and emergencies.

The following competencies are recommended for mid-level public health workers with:

• Five years experience with an MPH equivalent or higher degree in public health
• 10 years experience with a high school diploma, bachelors, or non-public health graduate degree

 

• Model Leadership
  • Solve problems under emergency conditions.
  • Manage behaviors associated with emotional responses in self and others.
  • Facilitate collaboration with internal and external emergency response partners.
  • Maintain situational awareness.
  • Demonstrate respect for all persons and cultures.
  • Act within the scope of one’s legal authority.
• Communicate and Manage Information
  • Manage information related to an emergency.
  • Use principles of crisis and risk communication.
  • Report information potentially relevant to the identification and control of an emergency through the chain of command.
  • Collect data according to protocol.
  • Manage the recording and/or transcription of data according to protocol.
• Plan for and Improve Practice
  • Contribute expertise to a community hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA).
  • Contribute expertise to the development of emergency plans.
  • Participate in improving the organization’s capacities (including, but not limited to programs, plans, policies, laws, and workforce training).
  • Refer matters outside of one’s scope of legal authority through the chain of command.

   

   

• Protect Worker Health and Safety
  • Maintain personal/family emergency preparedness plans.
  • Employ protective behaviors according to changing conditions, personal limitations, and threats.
  • Report unresolved threats to physical and mental health through the chain of command.

Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (KSAs) for the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competency  Model

The Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes (KSAs) for the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competency Model represents an important step forward in providing preparedness training for the mid-level public health worker. KSAs offer a means of operationalizing the competencies in the competency model, with learner knowledge described as “remembering” (cognitive abilities), skills described as “doing” (psycho-motor abilities), and attitudes described as “feeling” (affective abilities). KSAs combine to enable learners to demonstrate behaviors that will help assure effective and confident performance in real-world job situations.

• Solve problems under emergency conditions.
  • Recognize emergency conditions and the resulting problems.
  •  Evaluate the level of hazard or risk.
  •  Prioritize problems based on level of hazard and degree of risk.
  • Analyze dysfunctions within a public health emergency response system.
  • Assure responsibility for responding when needed in the event of a public health emergency.
  • Summarize the means, methods, and processes for solving the problems.
  • Prioritize problems based on severity, urgency, and solvability.
  • Assess information, resources and procedures necessary to address the problems in emergency situations.
  • Implement action to solve the problems(s) in a timely fashion.
  • Differentiate among the consequences of specific decisions.
  • Assume responsibility for taking specific actions that further organizational mission or population health in the presence of a public health emergency.
  • Explain how different personality types impact performance during emergency situations.
  • Maintain awareness of one’s own tolerance for risk.
  • Recognize the ethical and moral implications of decisions made through a chain of command.
  • Refer problems that fall outside one’s scope of authority to the appropriate person in the chain of command.
• Manage behaviors associated with emotional responses in self and others.
  • Distinguish among the possible signs of personal stress, burn-out, and vicarious trauma.
  • Apply techniques for maintaining awareness of possible signs of personal stress, burn-out, and vicarious trauma.
  • Apply intervention techniques to support emotional health needs.
  • Describe the importance of mitigating acute distress and fostering adaptive functioning and coping.
  • Demonstrate personal behavioral techniques for mitigating acute distress and fostering adaptive functioning and coping.
  • Discuss the elements of self-care principles and practices.
  • Use self-care principles and practices to mitigate potential adverse effects.
  • Develop a willingness to support the emotional health of others.
  • Maintain willingness to be an active listener.
  • Maintain a non-judgmental and respectful manner.
  • Evaluate the emotional support needs of others.
  • Assess individuals requiring immediate care.
  • Distinguish among well-functioning, distress, and dysfunctional emotional responses.
  • Describe referral resources for serving as a liaison and advocate.
  • Distinguish among the types of referrals needed for intensive care.
  • Act as a liaison and advocate.
• Facilitate collaboration with internal and external emergency response partners.
  • Compare the roles of relevant internal and external emergency response partners (including, but not limited to, agencies, organizations, authorities, elected leaders, and stakeholders).
  • Develop partnerships among internal and external emergency response partners.
  • Develop collaborative emergency response plans and/or policies with appropriate internal and external emergency response partners.
  • Apply communication strategies to effectively communicate with internal and external response partners.
  • Maintain agreements (e.g., Mutual Aid Agreements or MAAs, Emergency Management Assistance Compacts or EMACs, Memoranda of Understanding or MOUs) with external emergency response partners to secure and provide assistance and resources in all phases of emergency preparedness and response.
• Maintain situational awareness.
  • Explain the importance of a shared mental model in the development of a coordinated response to an emergency.
  • Analyze information regarding the status, attributes, and dynamics of relevant factors impacting response activities.
  • Use information and resources that identify changes in the situation and/or response.
  • Detect cues that the situation may be rapidly changing.
  • Classify key resources used in problem solving for specific types of incidents and the immediate needs of victims.
  • Recognize critical elements impacting situational awareness.
  • Distinguish between critical and non-critical elements of the emergency.
  • Create steps for evaluating the success of actions taken during an emergency situation.
  • Develop a method for realigning response actions as crisis events evolve.
  • Communicate methods for aligning response actions to leaders and one’s team.
  • Cooperate with others to resolve discrepancies or misperceptions regarding elements impacting situational awareness.
  • Detect loss of situational awareness.
  • Develop strategies to minimize distracters impacting situational awareness.
  • Apply techniques that aid in recovery of situational awareness.
  • Prioritize actions to recover situational awareness.
  • Distinguish between existing and future needs in response environments.
  • Demonstrate the ability to communicate oral and written information impacting situational awareness in a clear, concise, and accurate manner.
• Demonstrate respect for all persons and cultures.
  • Demonstrate the ability to incorporate factors of diversity in all phases of emergency preparedness and response.
  • Apply principles of cross-cultural communication, equity, social justice, and respect for persons.
  • Develop partnerships with key stakeholders from diverse populations.
  • Describe cultural differences that might impact all phases of emergency preparedness.
  • Develop cross-cultural strategies to address emergency situations and disseminate information.
  • Assess the needs of vulnerable populations into all levels of emergency preparedness and response.
  • Recognize the benefits of diverse perspectives within the public health workforce.
• Act within the scope of one’s legal authority.
  • Identify the legal powers, duties, and restraints associated with the scope of one’s legal authority.
  • Apply appropriate public health authority to minimize adverse outcomes (e.g., persons, property, etc.).
  • Access the emergency preparedness and response policies and procedures of one’s own organization.
  • Respond legally and consistently within the values and mission of one’s public health organization.
  • Document appropriate information relative to the application of the law.
• Manage information related to an emergency.
  • Interpret procedures in emergency operations plan related to information management.
  • Distinguish the roles of staff involved in collecting and disseminating information for audiences (e.g., self, coordinator, Public Information Officer or PIO, technology/IT departments).
  • Compare the different types of routine and urgent information management.
  • Verify the credibility of information sources.
  • Classify information for internal and external audiences.
  • Demonstrate composure when managing information.
• Use principles of crisis and risk communication.
  • Differentiate among the responsibilities of a receiver, transmitter, and translator during events (before, during, and after).
  • Employ communication responsibilities for an event (before, during, and after).
  • Differentiate between crisis communication and emergency risk communication.
  • Deliver messages using the guidelines for crisis and risk communication.
  • Classify the general tenets in crisis and emergency risk communication principles.
  • Maintain empathy when communicating during a crisis.
  • Utilize credible sources in relaying risk messages.
  • Value cultural sensitivity as essential to communicating with diverse populations.
  • Summarize CDC-recommended guidelines on crisis and risk communication regarding the development and delivery of messages.
  • Use consistent names, acronyms, and pronunciation in oral and written communications.
  • Encourage inclusion of diverse populations in planning messages.
  • Differentiate between the mental and emotional factors that might create barriers to communication (e.g., reception and interpretation).
  • Distinguish among the needs of the diverse audiences within the community.
  • Identify subject matter experts within the community who can help with delivering messages.
  • Maintain diverse community partners to assist with communicating preparedness planning and population-specific messages.
  • Participate in multi-agency coordination activities to identify pre-event and event Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) materials, related to one’s subject matter expertise.
• Report information potentially relevant to the identification and control of an emergency through the chain of command.
  • Interpret the learner’s role in emergency identification and control as outlined in relevant Emergency All-Hazards Plans.
  • Communicate within the organization’s defined command structure (i.e. report up, communicate down).
  • Assess relevant emergency situational information coming into the agency.
  • Alert appropriate staff to unusual events based on identified trigger points and/or thresholds as outlined in the Communications Annex.
  • Communicate relevant information to personnel in a timely fashion.
  • Clarify the roles of team members in an Incident Command Structure.

   

• Collect data according to protocol.
  • Use standardized protocol to collect data.
  • Identify key local sources of data.
  • Identify the barriers to communicating when interviewing diverse populations.
  • Value the confidentiality of interviewee information.
  • Distinguish among strategies for properly documenting the data collection process.
  • Differentiate between primary and secondary data.
  • Organize data accurately into database or statistical packages.
  • Distinguish among different types of electronic information sources.
  • Utilize primary and secondary data collection methods to inform preparedness and emergency responses scenarios.
  • Point out the importance of threats to validity including various forms of bias.
  • Appreciate how strongly held personal beliefs and convictions might impact the validity and acceptance of data collected.
• Manage the recording and/or transcription of data according to protocol.
  • Adhere to relevant ethics guidelines, state, and federal laws regarding data collection, management, and dissemination.
  • Compare agency procedures for handling Freedom of Information Act requests.
  • Secure and stabilize data storage.
  • Interpret the responsibilities and expectations of data entry personnel.
  • Apply data entry quality control procedures that ensure accuracy and reliability.
  • Categorize common data and management issues.
  • Prepare a list of cases of affected individuals (e.g., disease, emergency care, disaster victims and fatalities) with specified variables (line listing).
  • Analyze public health threat data.
  • Explain the importance of data for informing scientific, ethical, economic, and political discussions of public health response issues.
  • Use descriptive techniques to summarize public health data.
• Contribute expertise to a community hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA).
  • Differentiate the major components of a hazard vulnerability analysis.
  • Interpret the relevance of subject matter expertise in HVA development process.
  • Distinguish an agency’s role in addressing the public health consequences from HVA events.
  • Use subject matter expertise in the development of the HVA assessment tool.
  • Justify the importance of using data and information contributed to HVA development.
  • Compare the role of subject matter expertise to HVA external partners and community needs.
  • Assess the impact of HVA on an agency’s operational functions.
  • Value expertise of others in developing an HVA.
  • Volunteer in a community HVA development process.
  • Endorse the use of HVAs as an important tool for community preparedness.
• Contribute expertise to the development of emergency plans.
  • Differentiate among the stages of an emergency plan.
  • Categorize local populations at risk for broad-scale health emergencies.
  • Summarize the roles and responsibilities of public health mid-level workers during an emergency and in the Incident Command System (ICS).
  • Justify the role of HVAs and Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) in emergency planning.
  • Express the importance of routine review of emergency plans.
  • Select methods for evaluating and improving preparedness and/or response related to one’s area of expertise.
  • Discuss the importance of planning for the psychological needs of a community during a disaster.
  • Recognize the value in having an incident command structure during an emergency situation.
  • Value creating preparedness partnerships within community organizations.
  • Justify the rationale for using a team approach in emergency planning.
  • Assess the relationship of exercises to emergency planning.
• Participate in improving the organization’s capacities (including, but not limited to programs, plans, policies, laws and workforce training).
  • Differentiate among public health emergency response legislation, regulations, and organizational policies.
  • Describe the key role of public health workers in an emergency response.
  • Adapt skill sets to meet organizational needs during an emergency response situation.
  • Apply knowledge and skills gained through participation in emergency preparedness and response activities to improve organizational capacities.
  • Apply organizational policies and plans during an emergency response.
  • Prioritize critical emergency preparedness responsibilities in one’s own program.
  • Apply mitigation strategies to one’s own organization during an emergency response.
  • Implement recommendations identified in After Action Reviews.
  • Communicate the need for and importance of a coordinated public health and other agency response to emergencies and disasters.
• Refer matters outside of one's scope of legal authority through the chain of command.

  Reference CDC’s public health law program.

• Maintain personal/family emergency preparedness plans.
  • Describe essential elements of a personal/family emergency preparedness plan.
  • Create a standard household inventory list to maintain personal/ one’s family’s ability to function during an emergency.
  • Assess one’s family’s special needs during an emergency.
  • Create a family emergency plan to include resources, supplies, and contacts.
  • Create a checklist of basic family needs, special needs, and life-saving medications or assistive devices for household members with sensory and/or functional/ developmental disabilities.
  • Categorize the known or potential emergencies.
  • Assemble in-house family emergency supplies and go-kit
• Employ protective behaviors according to changing conditions, personal limitations, and threats.
  • Discuss the need to protect worker health and safety in emergencies and disasters.
  • Categorize potential threats and emergencies.
  • Promote taking protective actions in response to current and changing threats.
  • Describe the relationship among protective measures, behaviors, and reduction of worker risk of injury or illness.
  • Describe the hierarchy of control measures.
  • Describe how the selection of control measures may evolve as conditions change.
  • Summarize organizational roles and responsibilities related to worker health and safety.
  • Discuss public health worker’s roles and responsibilities in designing, implementing and evaluating engineering, administrative, work practice and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) control measures.
  • Organize a system for reporting injuries, illnesses, and potential emergency harmful exposures to protect workers.
  • Apply decontamination procedures as necessary during the emergency or disaster responseEmploy practices to minimize exposures to agents and hazards during an emergency.
  • Construct a plan for monitoring personal physical and psychological responses to emergency situations.
  • Exhibit personal hygiene practices that minimize exposure to chemical, biological, or radiological agents that may be present during emergencies and disasters.
  • Demonstrate proper use and maintenance of assigned Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in an emergency.
  • Demonstrate correct donning of chemical protective clothing, respiratory protection, protective eyewear, protective footwear, hearing protection, gloves, and any other assigned Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
  • Apply the proper methods to maintain, store, decontaminate and dispose of different types of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Report unresolved threats to physical and mental health through the chain of command.
  • Discuss the types of physical hazards and resulting injuries one might encounter while performing one’s role during emergency planning and response.
  • Distinguish between potential threats to physical and mental well-being in the response environment.
  • Recognize the signs and symptoms of fatigue, mental distress and unresolved physical injury.
  • Identify how and to whom one should report unresolved physical and mental health threats.
  • Recognize the importance of reporting unresolved physical and/or mental health threats.

Full Educational Model and Report

Public Health Preparedness & Response Model (245 KB)

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