The Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center at the USF College of Public Health is closing out National Preparedness Month with National Prepareathon! Day on Sept. 30.

PERLC staff members have updated their personal preparedness plans, refreshed their home emergency kits and checked the contents of their emergency “Go Bags.” Want to join in being prepared for disaster? Start with the guides at http://www.ready.gov/ or http://flgetaplan.com/.

The Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice also spent National Preparedness Month developing two new courses, Disaster Behavioral Health First Aid Specialist Training for Veterans and Community-Based Disaster Coalitions: Vulnerable Populations. These trainings will be offered in addition to the core courses in disaster behavioral health, coalitions, field epidemiology and public health core competencies.

Additionally, as part of its work in preparedness for vulnerable populations, USF PERLC recently collaborated with the Hillsborough County Office of Emergency Management to improve post-disaster continuity of operations for agencies and organizations that provide services to vulnerable populations, a project that was recognized as a “Success Story” in the September PERLC Grantee Webinar.

For more information about National Preparedness Month, see http://www.cdc.gov/features/beready/ and http://www.ready.gov/.

For more information about the CLPHP and its training programs, see http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/clphp.

Submitted by Jo Averill-Snell, USF Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice