Emergency Management collab. workgroup - resource typing ideas

Hi everyone interested in the Emergency Management collaboration workgroup,
Hayleigh recently posted FEMA's "Epidemiologist" resource typing to the documents folder.  Here are some thoughts for your consideration.

FEMA’s typing for "epi" and "epi response team" is based on CDC/CSTE epi competencies, which is great! However, when it comes to “disaster epi”, FEMA’s typing doesn't fit quite as well. For instance, if a jurisdiction were to request a "Type 1 hazmat technician", it is clear what that means. Yet, FEMA's definition for a "Type 1 epidemiologist"  is vague and does not mention knowledge of and experience with disaster epi tools/methods. 

FEMA recently developed a National Qualification System, which is based on wildfire qualifications system and task books.

https://www.fema.gov/national-qualification-system 

 

The NQS describes the components and defines a process for certifying the qualifications of incident personnel. Personally, I really like this model for “disaster epi”, which could cover anything from CASPER to ACE to ERHMS to syndromic surveillance to shelter surveillance to disaster morbidity/mortality analysis, etc.  

 

For example, we could develop something akin to NQS Position Qualifications, defining specific “disaster epi” minimum qualifications criteria. Then, we could build a Position Task Book, which would list the competencies, behaviors, and tasks that epi personnel should demonstrate. In some ways, it would be similar to CDC/CSTE epi competencies tool, but specific to the necessary training/experience with disaster epi applications.  We could be as flexible or as stringent as appropriate when defining these criteria for "disaster epi".  Texas has already developed its own typing for a "CASPER epi team"...

 

Here’s an example of NQS position qualification and task book for a “GIS analyst".

Analyst Position Qualifications

https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1507480591271-c03057a7e8423fac8eb6b85a5976a645/NQS_509_GISAnalyst_FINAL.pdf 

Analyst Task Book

I look forward to future discussions at our workgroup calls.  Thanks!