The Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health (SRPH), the University of Texas School of Public Health (UT SPH), and the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health (UNT SPH) will collaborate as the Training and Education Collaborative System Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center (TECS-PERLC) to design, develop, deliver, and evaluate trainings and education that support the mastery and performance of the Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competencies (Core Competencies) and meet the documented needs or gaps of state, regional, local, and tribal public health workforce. In an effort to maximize cost efficiencies and ensure program effectiveness, the three schools of public health will function as a consortium to provide preparedness and response training to the public health workforce in its defined service area. TECS-PERLC has defined its geographic service area to include the States of Texas, South Dakota, and New Hampshire. TECS-PERLC will partner with central, multiple regional, and multiple local Texas Department of State Health Services components, the South Dakota Department of Health, the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management, the Aberdeen Area Indian Health Service headquartered in South Dakota, and the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services to ensure training is accessible to the public health workforce throughout the defined geographic service area. In order to reach the broader public health workforce that supplements public health planning and response in jurisdictions not served by local public health departments, TECS-PERLC will also partner with stakeholder groups representing this larger target audience to provide essential competency-based trainings. TECS-PERLC proposes the development of a process, based on the ADDIE model, to adapt pre-existing trainings or to create new trainings mapped to the Core Competencies. These competencies will provide a framework, based on performance outcomes, by which curriculum and training are developed and delivered and against which performance will be measured. In addition, TECS-PERLC will work with partners to assess the needs of the public health workforce and develop, deliver, and evaluate training and exercise materials to meet those needs. TECS-PERLC will work within the PERLC network to participate in the translation of the Core Competencies for application in practice and academic settings, collaborate on the development of a core curricula framework for proposed national standards and guidelines, and provide just in-time training and support of response and recovery missions. The combined expertise of the three Texas schools of public health in preparedness training and response and in instructional design, along with the wide range of state, regional, local, and tribal partners, will uniquely position TECS-PERLC to respond effectively to the deliverables outlined for the Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center.
