Chester County First Responders Get Valuable Training Help

3 Local Hospitals Provide Start-up Funding

For Web-Based Training of Emergency Personnel

Coatesville, PA – May 20, 2004 – Homeland Security and emergency preparedness in Chester County, Pennsylvania, moves to a higher level Friday, thanks to three local hospitals who have joined financial resources to sponsor a special, Web-based training program developed by a national firm, MC Strategies, Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia.  Brandywine Hospital , Jennersville Regional Hospital , and Pottstown Memorial Hospital are providing funding for the customization of Web-enabled training lessons to educate county emergency responders.

Effective coordination of emergency response personnel in the event of a major unusual disaster is a challenging responsibility. Any natural disaster can impact many people in the community, and all communities must plan for such inevitabilities.  Man-made disasters can be even more devastating.  Preparedness and community specific training at the local level has been shown to reduce the impact of disasters on the community and its citizens. 

Brandywine Hospital CEO Don Henderson said “We recognize the need for increased training in all-hazards emergency preparedness. Terrorism incidents have heightened the need for emergency responders to be knowledgeable about a new generation of threats. This program provides individual lessons that will be used to train fire, police, ambulance personnel, county workers, school teachers, and hospital staff in critical local procedures important to protect the safety of our community.

“We are especially pleased to be able to help provide this critical tool for improving readiness and safety for the people of Chester County ,” Henderson said. “The combination of the three hospitals enables us to generate enormous benefits for Chester County citizens by giving emergency responders the ability to update, build and reinforce their skills. Our local emergency responders have embraced the support and are working hard to rapidly bring this initiative into action. By making short lessons available through the Web, 24-hours-a-day, first responders can easily access the knowledge they need to prepare for all types of community disasters as prioritized in the County Emergency Operations Plan.”

MC Strategies’ community preparedness training division, known as USA Prepare, is developing the lessons based on local emergency procedures and protocols and maintaining Web sites for each fire company, police department, ambulance company, school and all eight hospitals in the Chester-Montgomery Emergency Hospital Safety Zone. Custom and “best practice” lessons have been prepared in hundreds of subjects, including Combating Terrorism, Safety Protocols for Hazards, Tactical Operations for Dealing with Crime and Terrorism, Hazardous Materials and Weapons of Mass Destruction.

USA Prepare successfully initiated the same type of project in Gordon County Georgia , but this is the largest project the company has undertaken. “We have received excellent cooperation from emergency preparedness personnel in Chester County ,” said Dr. Tim Boone, Managing Director of USA Prepare. This is a major project for us and represents a model that we hope to launch in other counties across the United States .”

Dr. Boone said “This project is funded by three local hospitals, who saw the need for increased training and who agreed to provide the necessary funding to develop the 230 Web sites, and hundreds of Web-based lessons, to support the various organizations providing the emergency infrastructure in Chester County. The commitment by Brandywine Hospital , Jennersville Regional Hospital and Pottstown Memorial Hospital is enormous.”

Three fire companies, four police departments, two ambulance companies, two School Districts, as well as Brandywine Hospital , are piloting the Web-based learning platform and the training lessons. Full implementation of all Chester County emergency responders is planned over the next several months.

Brandywine Hospital , conveniently located on Route 30 between Downingtown and Coatesville , Pennsylvania , is an acute care medical facility that has provided a full continuum of care to the community for over 100 years. Known for its ability to treat emergency and cardiac patients, the hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

BENEFITS OF WEB-BASED TRAINING

• Reaching large numbers of geographically dispersed learners is feasible and cost-effective.

• Assessment and testing for adoption and retention are automated.

• Many personnel complete much of their required training without leaving their workstations.

• Lengthy training sessions are replaced with a series of 15-minute training breaks.

• To make training convenient to all personnel, online training is available 24/7, from anywhere they can access the Internet.

• Training is consistently delivered. Delivery format and utilization history are recorded.

• Adult learning is made more effective because it’s interactive and constantly requires learner involvement.

• Giving the learner control over the learning process increases participation and training effectiveness.

• Web-based content can be constantly monitored and updated. Because training content is constantly changing, it’s impossible to constantly hold training sessions to cover new material.

• Personnel training needs vary from one position to the next, one department to the next, by agency, by state.

·    Online training is easily customized.

• Record keeping and training status data are available in real time.