I’m not very good at goodbyes..but thankfully, this is not a goodbye!
As this semester is coming to an end, so is my practicum with Team Prepare. We each got our 60 hours of practicum experience, completed all the tasks we had set out to do, and were able to make a lasting and positive experience within our community when it comes to emergency preparedness. Even though we have technically “completed” our practicum requirements, I know for a fact that we are not done making an impact and building relationships with the people in our community. The opportunities that have been presented to us by our preceptor have set us up for unique relationships and opportunities I never would have had the pleasure of experiencing on my own. Even though I was a little skeptical about the amount I would truly learn and take away from this practicum experience, I was pleasantly surprised and felt truly valued based on the feedback we would receive from the community following events we were able to participate in, such as Wings Over Harnett County, and two different Full Scale Exercises (FSE) in Moore and Montgomery County. I am also thankful for the mixture of girls that ended up in Team Prepare. The relationships created with each other throughout this semester have grown, and I can truly say these girls will make a lasting impact as public health pharmacists and clinicians in the future. Not only did I learn a lot from the practicum experience and our preceptor, I learned a lot from my group members. They each brought different values and ideas to the experience, and I can say they definitely helped mold the way I think and approach situations.
The first event Team Prepare was a part of was Wings Over Harnett County, where we set up a booth and educated the community with information and resources about being prepared for emergencies, and how to get prepared. We teamed up with Harnett County’s Emergency Management department, as well as Buies Creek Fire Department and handed out pamphlets, information and children’s activities. We acquired these resources from the Emergency Management department and Fire department, and also handed out brochures that Team Prepare put together, all related to emergency preparedness and how to get prepared. We had information for parents, children, elderly people, and pets, as well as information for Spanish speaking individuals. We received great feedback from community members, as well as the people who were running the event, and felt as though we made a great impact on our community through educating and raising awareness for the need of being prepared for emergency situations. Our next event dealt with assisting in a CDC required seminar about ebola and ebola safety for health practitioners and the Harnett County Health Department. While our preceptor, David, gave a presentation about the prevalence, origin of the disease, current risk, and proper protection practices, members of Team Prepare demonstrated the proper donning and doffing of PPE attire. This was a neat experience and Team Prepare was excited about the opportunity to be a part of this seminar. The Health Department employees were not the only individuals who learned something new that day..
Our next (and final) two events were full scale exercises (FSE) in Moore County and Montgomery County. Both of these events were able to put everything we were learning from David and our classes into action and we were able to see what it takes for a community to prepare and respond to an emergency. In these FSE events, each county was tasked to plan, prepare, and execute a mass influenza vaccination to try and immunize as many people as possible in a specific period of time. These FSE events incorporated multiple different departments at the county and state level. It became very clear from the beginning of the exercise that clear communication is important between all levels of emergency services (health department, local hospital, law enforcement, SNS, etc.) in order to successfully deal with and respond to an emergency situation.
Going into this program, the field of emergency preparedness didn’t come to mind when I thought of public health. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to be a part of Team Prepare, and experience this side of public health. I could definitely see myself going towards a career path dealing with SNS and the CDC, and dealing with infectious diseases that could quickly affect a large population of people. The most important part of emergency preparedness is having a plan and remaining informed and aware of public health risks, and preparing ahead of time for those risks. I hope to gain more experience in this field in the future, and am extremely thankful for this semester’s practicum experience, our preceptor, and my group members.