VisionTo help the victims of natural and man made disasters and dangerous situations by providing the highest quality educational and operational programs for first responders and first receivers and to provide practical application of research to the medical readiness community by forming a national medical readiness consortium. MissionOur mission is to become a nationally recognized center of excellence in medical readiness by establishing leadership, training, and service in this discipline.
The commitment of our staff, volunteers, students, community partners and friends to our mission permits us to maintain a quality of presence which is the hallmark of the HELP Center. Medical Readiness ComponentsHuman Population Risk AssessmentThe primary goal is to construct an applied theory of Healthcare System Planning for Disaster Reduction in the continental United States. This program will construct the model of Health Care System Planning for Disaster Reduction composed of pre-event analysis and system resource assessment. The model will match actual conditions identified in the fifteen national planning scenarios identified by the United States Department of Homeland Security, and have broad application to a wide array of communities and geographic regions. This program will work collaboratively and closely with the public health system and the emergency management community. It will bring the clinical medical community into a closer alignment with the principles guiding these key disciplines. Human Access Care and Evacuation - CalamityvilleThe overall purpose of the Calamityville project is to develop practical construction plans, sustainable business models, and funding streams to build a campus for all hazards, actual-conditions training in proximity to Wright State University (WSU), Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), the HELP Center’s Modular Acute Care Incident and Education (MACIE) Center. This will be the first site in the United States to fully integrate all medical and non-medical aspects of responding to a disaster or other complex rescue situation. Three core courses will be developed by the HELP Center HACE program. They will be didactic, laboratory, and exercise experiences targeted toward four specific groups tasked with planning and responding to disaster and other complex-rescue situations:
The EMT-R course will be the critical anchor for all courses created by the HACE program. Evidence for the concept of generating community desire for training that leads to a nationally recognized standard is based on the success of the Casualty Care Research Center (CCRC) in originating the Emergency Medical Technician – Tactical (EMT-T). Dynamic Medical SystemsAreas of concentration for this program currently focus on surge capacity and capability for health care systems in the State of Ohio. In times of catastrophic disaster or when local events tax our hospitals, WSU is preparing to deploy acute care centers (ACC) and neighborhood emergency help centers (NEHC) within Ohio’s eight Homeland Security Regions. Currently, WSU has excellent working relationships with the area hospital associations and the Ohio Department of Health. To date, $6.5 million dollars have been received in order to develop and implement these programs. Facilities at WSU are also being developed to house a logistics and supply facility utilizing over 50,000 square feet of warehouse space. Its purpose will be to maintain a state-wide supply and logistics chain for disasters. Dynamic medical systems will also focus research attention on product development and testing, bio-defense and biosafety, guidelines for disaster medical operations, and relationships with evolving areas of public health and clinical medicine. Healthcare Systems RecoveryThe devastation caused by natural or man-made catastrophes impacts the day-to-day operations of the entire nation. The 9/11 tragedy and recent hurricane disasters have prompted many healthcare organizations to reassess the integrity of crucial systems. Too little attention has focuses on appropriately identified crucial components of recovery. Healthcare systems recovery will focus on identification of crucial components of health care systems required for recovery including operational issues, planning considerations, logistics needs, and financial implications. Functional AreasEducational ProgramsThe department of emergency medicine and the HELP Center were accredited in 2005 as the regional site for the National Disaster Life Support curriculum. These courses, being taught nationally, are being delivered across Ohio in order to provide additional members for the medical reserve corps. First responders and receivers will need constant updates as governmental agencies publish guidelines for the national incident management system, the national response plan, and other homeland security directives. The educational programs will concentrate on workforce development and workforce continuing education. ResearchA research and development component is essential to support the medical readiness mission and will include areas of bio-defense and safety, human access care and evacuation and dynamic medical systems. Products currently utilized in the medical readiness community require testing, and new products will be developed based upon problems presented in the different programs. Higher Education ProjectFormal academic training in three focus areas will be developed. These areas include emergency services management (undergraduate and graduate), medical readiness (graduate), and disaster logistics (graduate). These programs will draw from the ranks of first responders, first receivers, emergency managers, public health practitioners, the military, and the civilian sector. It is anticipated that many of these programs will be developed using distance based programs and will rely heavily upon technology for deliver. For more information, contact: |