Weather Alert:
Nothing to report

UMass Amherst Campus Center

8:15 am to 5:00 pm

The Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council is offering Medical Preparedness and Response to Bombing Incidents on Thursday and Friday, November 3 & 4, 2016. This two day training is free and open to all emergency response disciplines. Breakfast and lunch will be provided each day.

We had a great class. Thanks to everyone who attended. 

Medical Preparedness and Response to Bombing Incidents Training addresses medical preparedness for and response to blast effects through a combination of lectures, small group activities and tabletop participant exercises. Participants completing this course will gain an enhanced understanding and awareness of issues and considerations relating to bombing incidents. Content areas include identification of targets, explosives characteristics, pre-attack indicators, pre- and post-detonation response, bombing injuries, security, and resource management.

This course is designed for personnel from any professional background who may become part of a community response to a bombing event. This interactive, instructor-facilitated program employs case studies and research-based information designed to enhance medical preparedness for and response to blast effects. Breakout sessions address considerations and concerns specific both to medical responders and emergency planners.

This training represents a cooperative effort between New Mexico Tech’s Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (NMT/EMRTC) and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service’s National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center (TEEX/NERRTC), a member of The Texas A&M University System. To register complete the form at the bottom of this page.

Topics:

  • Terrorism target identification
  • Types of terrorism
  • Explosive characteristics and behaviors
  • Homemade explosives
  • Pre-attack indicators
  • Blast injuries types and treatment
  • Mass casualty triage
  • Pre- and post-detonation response
  • Planning considerations
  • Command considerations
  • Understanding local/state/federal resources
  • Case studies
  • Integrated tabletop exercise
  • Audience

Recommended Audience:

  • Fire Services
  • Law Enforcement (federal, state, local, county)
  • SWAT/ Special Response team members
  • Tactical Medics
  • Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
  • Hospital personnel
  • Physicians
  • Nurses
  • Emergency management organizations
  • Emergency managers and planners
  • City Medical / Public Health
  • County Medical / Public Health
  • State Medical / Public Health
  • Federal Medical / Public Health
  • Private Industry
  • Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
  • Dispatchers

Prerequisites

FEMA / SID Number Students must register and bring a copy of their SID number to class. Register online: cdp.dhs.gov/femasid

CE Credits

This course is approved and accredited for continuing education hours from:

ENA- Emergency Nurses Association

AAFP – America Academy of Family Physicians

OEMS – Office of Emergency Medical Services

Location

University of Massachusetts Campus Center

One Campus Center Way

Amherst, MA

Time: Registration will begin at 8:15 am and light breakfast buffet will be available. Course will begin promptly at 9am and end at 5pm each day.

Hadley Farms Meeting House, 41 Russell Street (Rt. 9), Hadley MA

8:00 am to 4:30 pm

The Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council will host a Pediatric Psychological First Aid (PFA) Training on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at the Hadley Farms Meeting  House in Hadley, MA. This training is an initiative of WRHSAC’s Children in Disasters: Keeping Kids Safe project.

Pediatric Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence informed approach for assisting children and adolescents in the aftermath of disasters and terrorism.

This course will be facilitated by members of PFA International, including  Dr. Kermit Crawford, Director of the Center for Multicultural Mental Health, Boston; Dr. Shamaila Khan, Director of Behavioral Health Services, Massachusetts Resiliency Center, Boston; and Dr. Russell T. Jones, from Virginia Tech University, a specialist in working with traumatized children.

This training is appropriate for first responders, all school staff especially teachers & nurses, hospital staff, counselors & therapists, day care providers, faith-based members, and others who interact with children, infants through teenagers, on a regular basis.

Handlers and nationally certified comfort dogs from HOPE: Animal Assisted Crisis Response will be attending. WRHSAC is grateful for their participation.

This training is free.  A light breakfast and full lunch will be provided. On-site registration begins at 8am. The training will begin promptly at 9am.

We encourage you to register soon as course size is limited to 100. The course is expected to fill quickly. Registration is open to individuals from western Massachusetts. A waitlist will be started once the course if full.

OEMS credits (7 hours) have been approved for all levels of EMT. Nursing CEUs are pending.

This training is full. Thank you for your interest. 

WRHSAC & FBI Host Active Shooter Symposium

The Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council (WRHSAC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hosted an informational symposium on active shooter incidents in March at the Deerfield Academy. More than 600 people from throughout western Massachusetts representing multiple disciplines including, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, hospitals, schools, colleges and businesses, attended the event.

Participants heard lessons learned from incident commanders involved with previous active shooter incidents. Presenters included:

Connecticut State Police Lt. David DelVecchia and Captain Joe Rios, of the Newtown Connecticut Police Department who together discussed the response, investigation logistics, and post-incident management of the shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Chief David Billings, Manchester Connecticut Fire Department reviewed the first responder response to the 2010 Hartford Beer Distributor incident offering specific considerations for Fire and EMS at active shooter incidents.

Special FBI Agent Thomas Veivia examined demonstrated shooter behavior patterns and possible warning signs of potential shooters.

Nationally certified Comfort Dogs and their handlers from HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response also attended. The dogs visited with attendees and offered assistance to those who may have been emotionally affected by the day’s discussions.

The symposium was well received by attendees, with many noting how much they garnered from the lessons learned, and their appreciation for the care and respect of incident survivors and victims demonstrated by the presenters.

WRHSAC is reviewing attendee feedback with an eye towards next steps regarding this topic and anticipates conducting more events and trainings to assist the region’s preparedness capabilities to prevent and respond to active shooter incidents.

 

The Red Barn at Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA

8:30am to 5:00pm

WRHSAC is conducting Medical Management of CBRNE Events Training on January 12 & 13, 2015

**Thank you for your interest in this course. The course is full. We are no longer accepting registration**

What if a catastrophic event occurs? Will you be ready? Will you need a special level of protection? Is decontamination necessary? Do you have the right medications?

Medical Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives, (CBRNE) Events answers these questions and more as you learn how to distinguish between different agents of concern that could be used in a major incident.

This two-day course is a combination of facilitated discussions, small-group exercises, Human Patient Simulator hands-on scenarios, and traditional classroom discussions. Exercises are conducted in a CBRNE scenario using both adult and pediatric Human Patient Simulators to reinforce classroom lectures and interaction. You must attend both days to receive a certificate.

This course promotes critical thinking skills while utilizing the RAPID-Care concept. The multi-discipline make-up of the participants helps to strengthen information sharing, communications, and medical surge capabilities.

This course is taught by Texas A&M Engineering Extension Services. The course is free. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Registration will begin at 8:30am. Class begins at 9am and will end by 5pm each day. The training will be held at The Red Barn at Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA. 

This training is appropriate for the following disciplines:

  • Fire Services
  • Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
  • Law Enforcement
  • Hospital personnel, physicians and nurses
  • Public Health
  • Public Works (PW)
  • Emergency Management Organizations
  • City, County, State and Federal Medical
  • Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
  • Dispatchers

It is recommended that you take the following online course prior to attending this training:

OEMS credit of 16 hours for all levels of EMT/Paramedic have been approved. 16 hours of Dispatcher credit are available from the State 911 Department. Nursing credits are available through TEEX. Information will be provided in the course.

Class size is limited to 40 participants. This class is full. 

 

Rapid Medical Response to Disturbances in Jails and Courts

8:00am to 4:00pm

The Western Region Homeland Security Advisory Council is sponsoring Rapid Medical Response to Disturbances in Jails & Courts Training. The second session of this training will be held at the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office on January 25, 2016.

Participation is limited to 24 people, and priority will be given to Correctional Staff and Court Officers working in the four counties of western Mass.

This particular course will look at the facilities staff response to a disturbance and how to best respond to the medical emergencies that emerge from the event. This course is aimed at the Court Officers, SERT/TRT, Correctional Officers, Correctional Nurses, and their Supervisors (Sergeant, Lieutenants and Captains) that would respond to the event. In an event such as this, time is a crucial factor as well and security, and coordinating with external responding resources such as the State Police, Fire Departments and third service ambulance providers. Course participants will learn about previous cases in history, how to medically respond to the situation by treating the most severely injured and then starting the triage system to sort the injured. In most of these disturbances the injuries are going to be trauma (blunt trauma, penetrating wounds, impaled objects and hemorrhaging). This course will concentrate on treating these types of injuries and helping the provider to feel more comfortable in treating these injuries and working in the triage system.

The course will be taught by Eric Stratton of STS Consulting/Tactical EMS.

To sign up for the course please go to www.tactical-ems.com. Go to register, fill out all the information and under comments put WCC Grant Course.

Social Media Policy

In this week’s module of re-visiting our Social Media and Emergency Management Training you will learn about creating  a social media policy for your organization.

What is Social Media?

Module two of our Social Media for Emergency Management Training is up. Check out our Facebook page and take the module. Let us know if you learn anything!

Social Media and Emergency Management Training

Over the course of the next few months WRHSAC is revamping the Social Media and Emergency Management (SMEM) training project. This will be done on a module by module basis and includes information for individuals specifically targeted to the needs of the Western Massachusetts first response and emergency management community. Each module emphasizes the why and how: Why and how should first responders and emergency management professionals use these web-based communication tools?  Some of the content includes how to write a social media policy; how to set up and use a blog for an agency for use in a crisis and how to monitor and archive social networks in real time during a crisis.  The SMEM page tab State and Regional Social Media links will also be continuously updated throughout this project which provides web- based/social media communication sites for State and Regional agencies throughout Western Massachusetts. Each module will include questions to answer as well as tasks to complete, because we understand that the best way to learn these tools is to use them! We look forward to your participation every week! Here is the link to the main SMEM website.

Hotel Northampton, Northampton, MA

8:00am to 4:00pm

Using a Joint Information System to Support Response

The Second in a Series of Interactive Training Workshops for Experienced Public Information Officers

Facilitated by Susan Santos, PhD, MS, national expert in Risk Communications and Public Information and Burt Peretsky, FOCUS GROUP Consultants

Recent emergencies and exercises in the region have demonstrated the critical need to coordinate information across agencies and jurisdictions. This advanced level Public Information Officer (PIO) training builds on previous basic public information training workshops hosted by WRHSAC and MEMA. It is intended for trained and/or experienced PIOs from all response organizations including police, fire, selectboards/mayors, public health, hospitals, colleges/universities, and EMS.

The workshop will focus on the key elements of a Joint Information System/Center, including:

  • Importance of a JIS/JIC in today’s world of instant media
  • Forming and using a JIS/JIC
  • Role of the Public Information Officer in a JIS/JIC
  • Social media monitoring and rumor control
  • Use of JIS/JIC model to develop and present timely, coordinated, and accurate messaging in response to a simulated emergency.

To ensure time for practice and performance review, the workshop is limited to 30 qualified participants who are recommended or sponsored by a Local/Regional Emergency Planning Committee, Public Health Coalition, Hospital Coordinating Group, MMRS, Chief Elected Official or Responder Agency head.

There will be a rolling admissions process with all registrants initially waitlisted, so event planners can ensure that all counties and disciplines are effectively represented and can simulate a regional Joint Information System.

This training builds on plans recently developed by WRHSAC for a Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC).  The MACC Concept of Operations includes a Joint Information System to help coordinate timely and accurate messages across agencies, communities and regions. The MACC model is in the process of being adopted in Berkshire County and will be introduced over the next several years in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties. The MACC PIO Standard Operating Guidelines are here for your review.

The training will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2015 at the Hotel Northampton, Northampton MA. Registration and breakfast from 8am to 8:45am. The Welcome and training will begin at 8:45 and run to 4:00pm. Lunch will be provided. The training is free thanks to funding from the Western Region Homeland Security Council and the Hampshire and Hampden Public Health Coalitions.

Registration is closed for this training. 

Helpful Resources:

Public Health Region 1 PIO SOG

And some PIO Training videos:

Hadley Farms Meeting House, Hadley MA

8:00am to 5:00pm

WRHSAC is conducting Medical Management of CBRNE Events Training on March 10 & 11, 2015

What if a catastrophic event occurs? Will you be ready? Will you need a special level of protection? Is decontamination necessary? Do you have the right medications?

Medical Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives, (CBRNE) Events answers these questions and more as you learn how to distinguish between different agents of concern that could be used in a major incident.

This two-day course is a combination of facilitated discussions, small-group exercises, Human Patient Simulator hands-on scenarios, and traditional classroom discussions. Exercises are conducted in a CBRNE scenario using both adult and pediatric Human Patient Simulators to reinforce classroom lectures and interaction.

This course promotes critical thinking skills while utilizing the RAPID-Care concept. The multi-discipline make-up of the participants helps to strengthen information sharing, communications, and medical surge capabilities.

This course is taught by Texas A&M Engineering Extension Services. The course is free. Lunch will be provided. Registration will begin at 7am. Class begins at 8am.

This training is appropriate for the following disciplines:

  • Fire Services
  • Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
  • Law Enforcement
  • Hospital personnel, physicians and nurses
  • Public Health Services
  • Public Works (PW)
  • Emergency Management Organizations
  • City, County, State and Federal Medical
  • Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
  • Dispatchers

It is recommended that you take the following online courses prior to attending this training:

Class size is limited to 50 participants. The registration and wait-list for this course is full.
Thank you for your interest!

16 hours of OEMS credit for Basic, Intermediate and Paramedic are available.

 

 

 

« Older posts
Newer posts »