PHP410:

Introduction

This lesson builds on the last lesson's orientation by expanding your contacts to include your course team members. It also explores the vital issue of decision-making in the emerging field of public health preparedness and frames the remainder of the course topics in this larger context. To that end, you will also begin to familiarize yourself with the National Response Framework (NRF), a seminal document that you will return to throughout the program.

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to

• recall your team assignment, fellow team members, and assigned lessons for which you serve as team leader; and
• demonstrate an appreciation of the overall course objectives in the context of decision making in an emerging professional discipline.

Road Map

Note: The purpose of the Lesson Road Map is to give you an idea of what will be expected of you for this lesson. You will be directed to speficic tasks as you proceed through the lesson. Each activity in the To Do section will be ideantified as individual (I) or team (T); and graded (G), ungraded (U), or Pass/Fail (P/F).

To Read

Required

• Harvard Business Review: "What leaders really do," by Kotter, J. (2001, December).
  • View this tutorial on accessing articles from Harvard Business Review
  • Link to PSU Libraries Website
• Online Article: "Editorial: The core of leadership," Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. by Souba, W. (2000).
• Online Resource: National Response Framework Information and Documents. Download the National Response Framework document (July 2013) and read at a minimum the Introduction.

Optional

• Students should familiarize themselves with the documents available at the FEMA National Response Framework website.

To Do

In this lesson, you will complete the following assignments:

1. Abilene Paradox Video Reflection (I, P/F)
2. Leadership Reflection (I, G)
3. National Response Framework (I, P/F)
4. Collaboration Reflection Activity (T, P/F)

Topics

• Course Themes

Course Themes

Several threads run throughout the course and understanding them early on will help you frame your studies and integrate new information into your existing background of skills and knowledge.

Developing a Fund of Knowledge

Knowledge is power. Unless you understand the language of homeland security and how the mechanisms by which disasters and terrorist events pose a threat to society, you will not be able to develop strategies for prevention, protection, response, and recovery. Therefore, in addition to team problem-solving tasks, each individual student will perform activities that reinforce the fund of knowledge about the particular topic of each lesson.

Appreciating Historical Context

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Bioterrorism is not a new threat—in fact it has been used as a weapon since early in world history. As such, it is not a threat that is likely to completely disappear. Recent history provides examples such as the 9-11 terrorist attacks and the Hurricane Katrina disaster that you will review and analyze. Lessons learned from actual disasters and terrorist events are important in mitigating the effects of future occurrences.

Respecting the Road Map

No strategy is without weaknesses. But one must have a well-planned and coordinated strategy for emergency response and preparedness. The United States federal government has developed a “road map” or strategy for managing a response to a disaster or terrorist attack known as the National Response Framework. You will be expected to familiarize yourself with this document because you must understand and respect the fact that local emergency management is able to integrate its own disaster response operations with this overarching National Response Framework. At the same time, some of you are or will become leaders in the field of public health preparedness and will need to periodically review, critique, and modify existing plans to meet changing circumstances.

Activities

Individual Activities

Abilene Paradox Video Reflection

Throughout the course and graduate program, you will be asked to work in teams and solve problems for a variety of issues and scenarios. Watch the "Abilene Paradox" video below and briefly discuss what each set of characters do and fail to do and how these actions or omissions ultimately lead to their decision to go to Abilene (one-page limit). You can structure your answer in paragraphs or using a table format. Submit your document via the Abilene Paradox Video Reflection Drop Box. (I, P/F)

Click the black arrow to launch the video.

Leadership Reflection

Read the required articles for this lesson. Write a brief (two-page maximum) summary of the five most important attributes or qualities that you think a leader must have to be successful in the field of public health preparedness. Be sure to reference both of the leadership articles from this lesson's required reading, as well as any other source material that you research. (You may wish to explore strengths and weaknesses of each of the required leadership articles.) Submit your document via the Leadership Reflection Drop Box. (I, G)

National Response Framework

Familiarize yourself with the documents listed on FEMA's website for the National Response Framework. Download the National Response Framework document dated July 2013 and read at a minimum the Introduction. What is ESF #8? Submit your answer via the National Response Framework Drop Box. (I, P/F)

Team Activities

Collaboration Reflection

Please read about Collaboration from the Research at Penn State website and "Silence is not golden: Making collaborations work" by Joan Schwartz (2005).

Provide thoughts to the following items that relate to collaboration.

1. What is collaboration?
2. Using the article, rank in importance different factors that affect collaboration.

Send your remarks to each member of your team and then each team should submit one document that combines all of the team member remarks to the Collaboration Reflection Activity Drop Box (one-page maximum per team member). (T, P/F)

Wrap-up

An instructor video will be displayed here at the end of the week providing feedback for the lesson.