Briljent recently completed an exciting project for the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH). Working with Health Care Excel, Hederick Partnerships, Engaging Solutions, LLC, and Cabello, Associates, Briljent assisted the ISDH in determining the level of preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic around the state. The project consisted of three separate phases.
In the first phase, the team designed an assessment tool and surveyed ten Indiana counties. The purpose of this survey was to gauge the counties’ preparedness for an influenza pandemic outbreak and to identify gaps in the recruiting and training of volunteers for such an emergency. The ISDH envisions that trained volunteers will be critical in staffing immunization centers and temporary care centers for the distribution of antiviral medications. After gathering the data, Briljent prepared a summary report to help the ISDH better serve the local health departments in their efforts to recruit and train volunteers for a potential influenza pandemic.
The second phase of the project examined how ten representative Indiana counties are planning to deal with the mass fatalities that could result from an influenza pandemic. The team drafted an assessment, surveyed local health department officers, and identified their preparedness on such mass fatality issues as temporary body storage facilities and available morgues, cooperation with funeral directors, burial space and crematorium capacity, and the social impact of delayed funeral services. The phase concluded with a summarized report to help the ISDH better serve the local health departments in their efforts at implementing their influenza pandemic master plans as they pertain to the possibility of mass fatalities.
In the third phase of this project, the team prepared training materials that addressed multiple influenza pandemic issues. The team conducted six four-hour education sessions around the state to update local health department personnel on the latest training materials the ISDH had provided for their local educational efforts. (Those training tools consisted of: videos, PowerPoint presentations, radio and TV spots, brochures, influenza pandemic preparedness checklists, etc.) Presentation skills and effective training techniques were offered as part of these sessions.
