AFC Hazardous Materials Worker Training

With this application, the Alabama Fire College (AFC) requests supplemental funding to conduct COVID-19 specific health and safety training with public safety personnel, including healthcare workers and others that are considered essential workers during the COVID-19 response. Using current Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are over 556,000 public safety and healthcare personnel working in the region including those who will provide patient transport or are members of emergency response teams and have roles which will require them to respond to an infectious disease outbreak such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these personnel work in rural areas or medically underserved areas which put them and the patients they serve at greater risk. All these target populations have in common the potential for exposure to persons infected with COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases, through direct contact with infected individuals as well as through surface contamination or other contaminated materials.Alabama and Mississippi contain many medically underserved areas, health professional shortage areas, health department with limited budgets and limited ability to conduct contact tracing, and limited access to professional occupational safety and health training programs.Unfortunately, federal funds for preparedness assistance have not reached public safety and healthcare professionals in the amounts sufficient to meet their needs for training. AFC and it's partner, UAB, will develop and implement evidence-based training tools that are locally-relevant and consistent with the NIEHS WTP Coronavirus Bio-safety Initiative and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), as well as other recognized health professionals. The proposed project will bring critical training to over 400 participants in webinar, virtual simulation, YouTube video, and limited in-person training. Courses will also be available through AFC's learning management system to Native American tribes and other responders and essential workers, adding many potential trainees through distance education.