Field Placement:  Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD)
Location: Portland, OR
Preceptor: Jim Spitzer
Student Name: Katie Arrington
Year: 2008

From June 19 through September 17, 2008 I completed my field studies with Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD), in Oregon.  My field studies placement was with the Emergency Preparedness department and my preceptor was Jim Spitzer.  I also worked under Robin Holm, who is the other employee in the Emergency Preparedness department.  My main project with MCHD was with the Push Partner Registry, designing and analyzing the results of a notification drill. 

The Push Partner Registry (PPR) is program that is part of a federal initiative funded by the Centers for Disease Control to help major metropolitan areas be able to dispense antibiotics to their whole population within 48 hours of the decision to do so.  The Registry focuses on large business and community based organizations (with vulnerable populations) to serve as their own points of dispensing during a bioterrorism event.  Not only will Push Partners be able to serve their employees, employees families and clients during such an event, but the load on public health will be decreased as less people will be getting antibiotics directly from the county health department.

A notification drill was used to test current methods of communication with the Push Partners.   There are several different levels of emergency drills that can be done and a notification is one of the easiest and simplest of these drills.  Most county health departments, including Multnomah County Health Department have at least one annual large drill.  Constant practices of plans and procedures through drills enables any kinks in the current system to be worked out and it keeps all people involved in the Incident Command Team reminded of their function in times of emergency. 

The drill was designed to gauge the effectiveness of the current Push Partner communication plans.  Through e-mail, phone calls and the website all current Push Partners were notified that a drill was occurring and were asked questions about their capabilities to dispense medication the next day if a real emergency were occurring.  Through feedback forms given to all Push Partners data about current contact methods was also collected.

While preparing for the drill and writing the drill plan, I took several FEMA Incident Command System (ICS) courses.  All emergency preparedness departments are expected to have their disaster plans in line with ICS training.  If everyone across the county plans and drills in mostly the same manner then it will be easier for different states and counties to coordinate with each other during an emergency.  Everyone will be using the same terminology and should hopefully have the same Incident Command structure.  ICS courses teach individuals who are expected to serve roles in times of emergency about the command structure they will be dealing with during an emergency.

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