SBIR-STTR Award

The World Trade Center clean-up focused national attention on the inadequate training for "skilled support personnel", OSHA's term for workers in trades (including construction, demolition and transportation) deployed to support disaster response (Lippy and Murray, 2003). While the relevant OSHA standard (29CFR 1910.120) provides detailed training for emergency responders, the requirements for training skilled support personnel are less stringent, focusing only on awareness training through an initial on-site briefing. The negative health consequences of inadequate preparation have been profound. For example, one year after the World Trade Center attack, over half of 2500 workers screened were still suffering respiratory symptoms. This project focuses on biological hazards as the consequences of inadequate protection and potentially catastrophic to the skilled support worker as well as the public at large. Since emergency response protocols are not routinely practiced by skilled support personnel, one-shot trainings-even with periodic refreshers-- are unlikely to be remembered at the time personnel are mobilized to support a WMD event. Accordingly, this project will develop an online multi-media, interactive training application available to skilled support personnel for pre-incident training as well as a just-in-time reference. This supplement to basic training in disaster response will focus on health and safety practices relevant to disease transmitted by aerosolized agents, blood or bodily fluids, person-to-person contact, or insect and animal vectors. Training will cover routes of exposure and applicable diseases, engineering and work practice controls, personal protective equipment and barriers, decontamination and disposal procedures, and post-exposure protocols. Case studies will enable trainees to apply their knowledge by developing exposure control plans in response to simulated events involving biological hazards. Following the core curriculum, participants will have two opportunities to connect with peers and instructors: an asynchronous online discussion forum linked to the product and virtual office hours or webcasts geared to provide real-time opportunities for discussion and questions. Evaluation will involve a series of pre- and post- course written evaluations and telephone interviews with each participant to measure satisfaction with the course and delivery mechanisms as well as knowledge gains and confidence about applying knowledge in practice. Participants who receive online training only will be compared to those who receive both online and asynchronous and real time follow-up activities. The application is rated at a priority score level of 47.

Thesaurus Terms:
21+ Years Old;Active Follow-Up;Address;Adult;Animals;Attention;Awareness;Awarenesses;Biohazard;Biohazard Substance;Biohazardous Substance;Biological;Biological Terrorism;Bioterrorism;Blood;Blood-Borne Pathogens;Bloodborne Pathogens;Businesses;Case Study;Communicable Diseases, Emerging;Communication Programs;Communities;Consultations;Curriculum;Decontamination;Disasters;Disease;Disorder;Distant;Education;Educational Curriculum;Educational Aspects;Emergencies;Emergency Situation;Emerging Communicable Diseases;Engineering;Engineerings;Environment;Equipment;Evaluation;Event;Goals;Health;Hour;Human;Human Resources;Human, Adult;Human, General;Infectious Diseases, Emerging;Insecta;Insects;Intelligence;Invertebrates, Insects;Knowledge;Learning;Life;Link;Liquid Substance;Literature;Man (Taxonomy);Man, Modern;Manpower;Marketing;Measurement;Measures;Mission;Names;Nuclear;On-Line Systems;Online Systems;Prov;Participant;Performance;Persons;Preparation;Prevention;Price;Procedures;Protocol;Protocols Documentation;Provider;Public Health;Reporting;Reticuloendothelial System, Blood;Risk;Route;Safety;Sampling;Science;Science Policy;Scientist;Security;Series;Simulate;Site;Source;Structure;Symptoms;Telephone Interviews;Terrorism;Testing;Time;Training;Training Programs;Training Support;Transportation;Work;Writing;Adult Human (21+);Aerosolized;Biodefense;Case Report;Case-Based;Community;Design;Designing;Disease /Disorder;Disease/Disorder;Emerging Infectious Disease;Experience;Fluid;Follow-Up;Hazard;Instructor;Interest;Liquid;Meetings;Online Computer;Peer;Personnel;Pricing;Public Health Medicine (Field);Respiratory;Response;Safety Practice;Satisfaction;Skills;Training Project;Vector;Virtual;Weapons;Web Based

The World Trade Center clean-up focused national attention on the inadequate training for skilled support personnel (SSP), OSHA's term for workers in trades (including construction, demolition, and transportation) deployed to support disaster responses. While the relevant OSHA standard (29 CFR 1910.120) provides detailed training for emergency responders, the requirements for training skilled support personnel--so-called secondary responders-- are less stringent, focusing only on awareness training through an initial on-site briefing. The negative health consequences of inadequate preparation have been profound, leading to efforts to better prepare SSP to work safely on disaster sites. This Phase II project focuses on biological hazards as the consequences of inadequate protection are potentially catastrophic to the skilled support worker as well as the public at large. Because skilled support personnel are subject to no statutory or regulatory requirement for training in advance of a disaster response, training must not only be informative but also persuasive about the need to know, easily accessible, and sufficiently entertaining and graphically appealing to engage the attention of SSP. The basic training developed and tested in Phase I achieved the goals of engagement. This Phase II project will focus on adding animation and interaction to the Phase I product, developing shorter, incident- specific refresher trainings that can be reviewed on mobile devices prior to entering a disaster response action, and constructing an online Discussion Forum to provide trainees with opportunities for interactions with instructors and peers. Following the completion of tests measuring knowledge gains and retention, subscriptions to this package of products will be marketed to organizations that provide health and safety training to construction workers. As part of the marketing effort, a summary product will be developed to supplement more general disaster response curricula. This product will be disseminated free of charge to non- profit training agencies in order to expand the reach and visibility of the Phase II products.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
The World at Risk report issued in 2008 by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Proliferation and Terrorism concluded that while nuclear terrorism has been emphasized in Federal prevention efforts, bioterrorism is the more likely threat. Preparing skilled support workers to respond to this threat is an urgent public health challenge that will be addressed in this project by developing and testing several products to prepare skilled support personnel to work safely in biologically contaminated environments. Products include a comprehensive basic training for use online or in class, refresher training in three incident-specific units that can be viewed on mobile devices prior to entering a response action, and an online Discussion Board that will allow trainees to interact with instructors and peers and receive on-going support.

Project Terms:
Address; Agreement; animation; Attention; Awareness; Biohazardous Substance; Biological; Biological Products; Bioterrorism; Charge; Collaborations; Devices; Disasters; Educational Curriculum; Educational Status; Emergency Situation; Enrollment; Environment; Exercise; follow-up; Goals; hazard; Health; Hour; Human Resources; instructor; Internet; Knowledge; Licensing; Marketing; Measures; Methods; Monitor; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Nuclear; Participant; peer; Phase; Preparation; Prevention; Product Packaging; Provider; public health medicine (field); public health relevance; Reporting; respiratory; response; Risk; Safety; Site; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; System; Terrorism; Testing; tool; Training; Training Programs; Transportation; weapons of mass destruction; Work