Two-day bioterrorism symposiums have been scheduled for across Nebraska
to help educate health-care providers and first responders on bioterrorism-related
illnesses and their treatments. The symposia are being sponsored by the
Nebraska Bioterrorism Education Consortium and coordinated by the University
of Nebraska Medical Center Rural Health Education Network (RHEN).
General sessions will include: a state of the state address by Richard
Raymond, M.D., chief medical officer for Nebraska; an overview of the resources
of the Nebraska Center for Bioterrorism Education, by Sharon Medcalf, Nebraska
bioterrorism education coordinator; presentations on smallpox, by Jose
Romero, M.D., UNMC infectious disease specialist; medical effects of ionizing
radiation, by Col. Thomas Baldwin, M.D., command surgeon, Offutt Air Force
Base; and mental health considerations during a disaster, by Eugene Schmuckler,
Ph.D., consulting psychologist of Stone and Associates, Roswell, Ga.
On the second day at each site, special breakout sessions are planned.
Participants will include administrators at the public health department
and several hospitals, teachers and administrators, mental health professionals,
nurses, physicians, laboratory staff, emergency medical service workers,
extension educators, and law enforcement officers.
The following dates, locations and co-sponsors are set for the symposia.
· Scottsbluff/Gering — May 12-13, Gering Civic Center, co-sponsors:
Panhandle Partnership and Public Health Departments.
· Grand Island, May 19-20, College Park, co-sponsor: Central
Nebraska Area Health Education Center.
· Norfolk, June 10-11, Lifelong Learning Center-Northeast Community
College, co-sponsor: Northern Nebraska Area Health Education Center.
· Lincoln, June 18-19: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, East
Campus Student Union, co-sponsor: Lincoln Medical Education Foundation.
Continuing education credit will be available. Participants may register
for one or both days at $10 per day, which includes lunch. Each symposium
is limited to 200 participants per site. The first day of each symposium
will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the second day scheduled from 8:30
a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Pre-registration is required, and must be completed by five business
days before each symposium. Registration information can be found at www.unmc.edu/RHEN/bioterrorism.htm
or www.necenterforbted.org. For further information, e-mail Roxanna Jokela
at rjokela@unmc.edu.