Drawing upon over 15 years of successful education and training collaboration, the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), as primary submitting institution, and the School of Public Health Tropical Medicine at Tulane University (TU) collaboratively propose the South Central Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (SCPERLC) in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, funding opportunity Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Centers (PERLC) Cooperative Agreement. Peter M. Ginter, Ph.D. (UAB) serves as Principal Investigator and Ann Anderson, Ph.D. (TU) serves as Co-Principal Investigator. The SCPERLC provides a coherent framework for developing and delivering preparedness and emergency response competency-based and partner-requested training that will improve knowledge, skills and abilities;improve preparedness and response performance;and result in improved training-related outcomes for the preparedness and emergency response workforce in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the Poarch Band of the Creek Indians of Alabama and Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. This vision is accomplished through a Comprehensive Preparedness Training System Model and Training Development Guide, developed by SCPERLC investigators and evaluators, which provide a common training philosophy and seamless integration of core competency-based and partner-requested education and training. Further the model provides direction for required infrastructure, resources, and activities for program core and network activities. The Preparedness Training System Model and Training Development Guide are particularly applicable to training the preparedness and emergency response workforce because they ensure that training is competency based and relies on input from practiced based partners. The proposed competency-based and partner-requested training work plans are based on the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competencies, comprehensive evaluation and training needs assessment, and 2010 overall program evaluation supplemented with training needs focus groups with SCPERLC partners. Prioritization of the results of these assessments provided the basis for year-one training of the SCPERLC. Accordingly, year one will consist of many different needs assessment based and partner requested courses and other educational opportunities. To this end the SCPERLC proposes to not only significantly increase participation in 96 existing SCCPHP trainings, but also to create three new online courses, four new satellite trainings (which will also be archived for future automated open access), and will convene a major conference to facilitate the continued development and communication of pediatric disaster surge capacity. In addition, numerous partners requested activities will be conducted. As examples, a national satellite broadcast, focused on the gulf coast (all of our partner States), will be conducted to assist with disseminating lessons learned from the environmental health response to the recent oil release in the Gulf of Mexico;an inter-tribal public health emergency planning conference and a series of continuity of operations planning workshops will be conducted to support our tribal partners. Additionally, the SCPERLC will assist its partner States in drills and exercises, ranging from tabletop tops to a National level Exercise.
