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Disaster Preparedness for Health Professionals

Roxana Pompescu | Oct. 5, 2009

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“Fire catches, so don’t play with matches.” “Stop, drop, and roll.” “Look, duck, cover and hold.”

Safety slogans can serve as quick reminders for what to do when an earthquake, fire, flood or pandemic strikes. But beyond the slogans, what’s the best way to react? How do the guidelines change for individuals, versus institutions? And how do the experts prepare?

“Disaster Preparedness for Health Professionals” is a new four-part video series that answers all of those questions, and more. Featuring interviews with disaster response experts from throughout California, the series illustrates best practices for preparing for a variety of events. The series, which is free and premieres on UCSD-TV Thursday, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m. and online at www.ucsd.tv/disaster, is produced by UCSD-TV with support from California Television (UCTV) and the California Preparedness Education Network. It is funded by a combination of federal and University of California grants.

Each installment covers a different topic, including Natural Disasters, Chemical and Biological Agents, Pandemic Influenza and Other Emerging Infections, and Disaster Volunteerism. Using case studies, archival footage and interviews with policy experts and experienced emergency responders, the programs aim to teach anybody from an individual to a complex organization how to better prepared when disaster hits. They also take lessons from past disasters and use them to show viewers how prepare for future possibilities like wildfires, an H1N1 pandemic or a terrorist attack.

The featured experts represent organizations that sit right at the center of disaster preparedness and response efforts in the state, including California Health and Human Services Agency, Center for Infectious Diseases and Emergency Readiness at UC Berkeley, California Emergency Medical Services Authority, California Poison Control System, and the U.S. military.

The series is hosted by John Blossom, a professor of clinical family and community medicine at UC San Francisco and Christian Sandrock, a professor of critical care medicine and infectious diseases at UC Davis Medical Center.

UCSD-TV’s Web site will also provide audio and video podcasts and helpful disaster preparedness links and resources for California and the nation.

UCSD-TV airs on Cox and Time Warner Ch. 135, Time Warner Del Mar Ch. 19, AT&T U-verse Ch. 99, and UHF (no cable) Ch. 35. For more information, program schedules and more, visit www.ucsd.tv.


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