The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is one of the eight uniformed services whose mission is to protect, promote and advance the health and safety of the nation. The USPHS Commissioned Corps deploys Public Health Service officers to underserved communities across the nation and throughout the world to assist in cases of public health emergencies.
Throughout 2022, more than 2,000 Public Health Service officers were trained by the UNMC Global Center for Health Security on infection prevention and control to better prepare them for deployments.
The USPHS Deployment Safety Academy for Field Experience (D-SAFE) training program is funded by the USPHS Commissioned Corps and supported by UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, Texas A&M University and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. More than 2,200 Public Health Service officers have received education through the D-SAFE training since its inception in March 2022.
The D-SAFE program trains Public Health Service officers on key safety and infection control principles.
“The program gives Public Health Service officers opportunities to learn from public health and infectious disease experts with extensive experience in the development of standard operating procedures for managing and responding to infectious disease outbreaks,” program director Abbey Lowe, PhD, said.
The D-SAFE program is the latest successful collaboration between the Global Center for Health Security and the federal government. The Global Center for Health Security has a history of training federal first responders bolstered by the establishment of the national Training, Simulation and Quarantine Center in October 2019.
“The Training, Simulation and Quarantine Center is a key capability for national response to public health emergencies,” said Chris Kratochvil, MD, co-principal investigator of the program. “The Global Center for Health Security has built curriculum to train federal responders on patient transport, mortuary care, clinical response and COVID-19 deployment. The D-SAFE training program represents an important partnership that advances our nation’s health security.”
John Lowe, PhD, co-principal investigator with Dr. Kratochvil, said: “Training Public Health Service officers is a natural progression toward broadening our training offerings to an even more diverse workforce, which includes physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, environmental health officers, public health scientists, behavioral health professionals and more.”
RDML Richard Schobitz, PhD, director of the USPHS Commissioned Corps Headquarters, said: “As America’s health responders, Public Health Service officers are the first in line to defend our nation’s public health against threats large and small. Trainings, such as the D-SAFE course, are critical components of the preparation needed to help Public Health Service officers protect, promote and advance the health and safety of the nation.”
In its first year of operation, the D-SAFE program has:
- Piloted a course with 38 Public Health Service officers to identify the training needs of the USPHS Commissioned Corps.
- Launched three different training modalities for the course to maximize efficiency and participation.
- Trained 2,190 Public Health Service officers.
As a result of the program, UNMC also issued 3,153 continuing education credit hours to Public Health Service officers across three modalities.
The program leverages subject matter experts from across UNMC – including faculty and researchers from the UNMC Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Allied Professions and Public Health – to meet the needs of the Global Center for Health Security’s federal partners.
“This training program provides necessary skills and knowledge to our nation’s Public Health Service officers, who are key figures in our response to public health emergencies,” UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, said. “This impactful training, which leverages expertise across UNMC’s colleges, is a key example of collaboration between the GCHS and federal government, and we are proud of its success.”