Bright and early on a rainy Monday morning, our team of 5 HOSA Public Health Leadership Seminar participants made our way to the Thomas O’Neil building. The beautiful Health & Human Services building greeted us with a thorough security checkpoint, a process that our Potbelly sandwiches also had to experience later that day.
After security Lieutenant Katie Hager, a Program Officer for the Division of Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps, gave us a quick tour of our work space — a conference room in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). As this division needs to be ready for disaster situations, the area is designed to accommodate several teams for 24/7 work — including a kitchen area and showers.
Immediately the day took off with four meetings introducing us to connected facets of the Department of Health & Human Services. First, we met with Captain Robert Tosatto, who serves as Director of the Division of the Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps and is the principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Director of the Office of Emergency Management. With a huge smile on his face, Captain Tosatto shared with us the history of the HOSA-MRC partnership and his vision for future collaboration and development. As a HOSA member, it was thrilling for me to learn how our pipeline for Future Health Professionals could feed into the MRC and truly allow us to focus on community health. It’s very fitting that right across the wall in our conference room it says: ASPR — Resilient People. Healthy Communities. A Nation Prepared.
Next up, we met with three individuals from the Office of Emergency Management. Fusion Director Nancy Nurthen and Emergency Management Specialists from the Operations Division Ted M. Kennedy and Deborah Knickerbocker. This meeting was defined by rich discussion around the National Incident Management System and Incident Command System — as the representatives from the Operations Division shared with us the importance of adhering to these established systems during times of crisis. A major takeaway was that whenever the Federal Government sends people to help with a disaster, the local authorities are always the ones in charge. To illustrate, during the response to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon — a building full of high-ranking officers, the Arlington County Fire Chief was the one calling the shots. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion around Fusion - a part of ASPR that is leveraging Healthcare Information Technology to provide analysis and reporting. The tools they provide are listed here, it’s definitely worth checking out! http://www.phe.gov/about/oem/fusion/Pages/tools.aspx
After a quick lunch break, we went right back to our meetings - picking up with Lieutenant Commander Skip Payne. Through his personal anecdotes (which were hilarious), he gave us insight into what he does as a Program Officer for the MRC, history of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and Office of the Surgeon General. In the end, he left us with the message of being ok with the uncertainty of the path ahead. Often times, we encounter obstacles that seem like the end-all, however the experiences he shared with us proved that if you take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way - things will work out.
Finally, we had a chance to meet with two lovely communications officers Elizabeth Jarrett and Elleen Kane. They walked us through the use of social media in varying emergency and educational situations, and strategic messaging and communication in the government.
As the meetings came to an end, we had the incredible opportunity to check out the incredible interactive displays at the Koshland Museum. This relatively new museum surprisingly packs A LOT of information through their creative displays in a small location in DC. I personally recommend the distracted driving, climate change and disaster management simulations!
Perhaps the most relaxing part of the day however, was when Captain Tosatto pulled up in his minivan and took the team around Georgetown and the National Mall. Devouring some famous cupcakes, we went around town walking and exploring. Following this, Captain Tosatto gave us a personal night tour of the monuments, sharing spectacular fun facts along the way.
Through our excursions we truly got to bond within our team - it really began to feel like more of a family. I look around and I see an advisor from American Samoa, an island that is a 20+ hour flight away, a passionate CTE teacher from a brand new Texas school and two brilliant HOSA members. This week is an opportunity to explore Public Health alongside diverse and talented individuals, I cannot wait to see what the next few days hold.
No comments:
Post a Comment