Overview - PH 461: What is Public Health Preparedness?

After completing PH 461, learners will be proficient in describing the public health role, and their own level of participation, in emergency responses for a range of contingencies that might arise. Key aspects of this competency expectation include:

• differentiating among different types of public health emergencies and disasters, their definitions and the terminology related to them
• identifying the main characteristics of the principal natural disasters and their effects
• explaining the concepts of vulnerability, risk, disaster prevention, and the links to longer term effects
• describing why emergencies and disasters are a problem for which the public health system must be an integral participant across a range of disaster activities
• describing the role and responsibilities of public health professionals in emergency preparedness and response
• identifying how and where to locate the agency emergency response plan (or the pertinent portions of the plan)
• describing how the chain of command and communication strategies function in emergency response
  

This course involves several learning activities; see the PH 461 Exercises document for detailed instructions.

• Content: the content for this course is provided in the specific readings and other resources identified in the PH 461 Exercises document.
• Office Hours: This messaging system was created to handle questions and announcements. Visit this site to introduce yourself to the course as well as to help you get familiar with the workings of the system.
• Exercises:
  1. Individual Exercise: submit the completed individual exercise under the link "Submit Assignments". Your instructor will provide feedback by replying to your posting
  2. Conferencing Exercise: add your contribution to this multi-learner conferencing exercise.
  3. Assessment Quiz: complete and submit the multiple choice assessment quiz for PH 461.

The instructor will evaluate your responses to the various exercises and indicate when you have successfully completed PH 461. For learners interested in going beyond the basics, a list of additional resources, including readings and other materials, is available through the Additional Resources link. This list emphasizes the most up-to-date materials. Information on related courses is provided in the PH 460 Course Series Syllabus. PH 462 (or any other course) can begin whenever you wish, so feel free to begin the readings that are identified for the course that you plan to take next.

PH 461 Overview last revised July 1, 2004 (bturnock)