The Upper Midwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (UMPERLC) will include the states of Iowa and Nebraska. Both states face many of the same issues regarding preparedness and emergency response including winter storms, tornados and flooding. The proposed activities build on the strong foundation laid by the current Upper Midwest Center for Public Health Preparedness which has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since 2001. The overall goal of UMPERLC is to enhance the nation's public health and medical preparedness and response capabilities, with a specific focus on the Upper Midwest. UMPERLC's key stakeholder group represents the diverse public health and health disciplines which have responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of the public and brings expertise aligned with the core competencies. The project will utilize best practices in instructional design and technology. Key partners will be critical for maximizing adoption and access to core competency-based training. Strategies will include incorporation of core competency-based trainings into required activities, utilization of key partners to market core competency-based trainings, use of multiple delivery modalities for trainings, including distance-based trainings, and use of the Prepare Iowa Learning Management System for self-directed and organization-directed learners. Ongoing public health preparedness and response needs will be identified by key partners throughout the project. These needs will be prioritized and appropriate trainings, exercises, and performance support tools identified and/or developed. Evaluation is a critical component of this project. Ongoing evaluation will be conducted to ensure that learner performance-based outcomes are met, curriculum is continuously improved, the training needs of the region and key partners are met, and overall impact is demonstrated. Part A project objectives include: * Engage key partners to develop strategies to facilitate communication and implement a plan to maximize adoption of and access to core competency-based curriculum. * Identify and develop strategies for incorporating innovative mechanisms to enhance performance-based learner outcomes * Develop and integrate scenario-based assessment sin the Prepare Iowa Learning Management System * Utilize gaps analysis to prioritize core competency-based curriculum development * Develop a plan for incorporating the evaluation model Part B project objectives include: * Determine partner-requested activities to implement based on established criteria * Implement and evaluate prioritized partner-requested activities on an ongoing basis UMPERLC will build on the past experiences and infrastructure developed by the current preparedness center to accomplish the above objectives. UMPERLC will share all curriculum and resources developed with the national network.
