HEART    See Training schedules at bottom of article!

Stands for "Health Emergency Alert Response Team."

A presentation given by Betsy Haggard describing what Denton County is doing to prepare for "Health Emergencies" at

our meeting on January 8th, 2008.  It was well presented and contained much more information than is available on this

page.  Betsy provided handouts (parts are shown below) as she described various types of health emergencies.  These

emergencies could be natural (epidemic) or terrorist (biochemical) related.  The Denton County HEART team has identified

170 potential sites in Denton County that could be involved in a health emergency.  These are areas containing schools,

shopping centers, etc.  To dispense medication by injection or by pill - PODS will be set up in the infected area.  The PODS

are manned by volunteer medical personnel and volunteer support staff.  Denton County has acquired enough volunteers

to currently operate 20 PODS and is striving to operate 25 "points of distribution sites."  There is a need for qualified volun-

teers to reach the goal the County has set.  There are training classes available (links and dates will be provided later) to

show the volunteers what to do when responding to a health emergency.  The acronyms to be learned are shown below.

For more information contact Betsy Haggard at Betsy.haggard@dentoncounty.com

Training Dates

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Location: C.H. Collins Athletic Complex, 1500 Long Road, Denton   Cost: Free

Course description: The event will exercise emergency plans to set up a point of dispensing (POD) in a mass prophylaxis scenario. Each participant will simulate his or her role in a POD as we provide preventive medication for the "public". CEU: not offered

Registration: THIS COURSE IS ONLY OPEN TO ACTIVE DENTON COUNTY MEDICAL RESERVE CORP MEMBERS WHO HAVE COMPLETED ORIENTATION.

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Location: Denton County Government Center (same building as health department), 306 N. Loop 288, Denton. Cost: Free

Course description: The Denton County Medical Reserve Corp Orientation will include: Medical Reserve Corp Information Session, Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities, Strategic National Stockpile, Contact and Deployment Procedures, and POD team assignments. CEU: not offered

Registration: Please contact Sandi Wiggins at 940-349-2923 or sandi.wiggins@dentoncounty.com.

Time: 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Location: Denton County Emergency Management Office, Emergency Operations Center, 9060 Teasley Lane, Denton  Cost: Free, CEUs will cost $15 (bring to the training)

Course description: BDLS is an 8-hour, in depth training course designed to meet the urgent needs of emergency situations. It provides common organizational plans, terminology, methods of scene evaluation and victim classification for disaster recognition and response. The course introduces the "D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R" paradigm, "mass triage" and management of "all-hazards" events due to chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological, explosive and natural disasters. The course also discusses the healthcare provider’s role in the public health and incident management systems, as well as community mental health. The American Medical Association grants BDLS Provider status to persons who successfully complete the course. A medical background is not required to participate in this course.  CEU: offered

Registration: Please contact Betsy Haggard at 940-349-2922 or betsy.haggard@dentoncounty.com.

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (both days)  Location: DISD Service Center Annex, 230 North Mayhill, Denton 76208  Cost: Free

Course description: The Basic CISM training program is designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multicomponent crisis intervention curriculum. The 2-day course prepares participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services including pre and post incident crisis education, significant other support services, on-scene support services, crisis intervention for individuals, demobilization after large scale traumatic incidents, small group defusings and the group intervention known as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD).   CEU: offered

Registration: Please contact Betsy Haggard at 940-349-2922 or betsy.haggard@dentoncounty.com. Please make sure you register for the class to reserve your spot.

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Location: Denton County Government Center (same building as health department), 306 N. Loop 288, Denton. Cost: Free. Course description: The Denton County Medical Reserve Corp Orientation will include: Medical Reserve Corp Information Session,  Volunteer Roles and Responsibilities, Strategic National Stockpile, Contact and Deployment Procedures, and POD team assignments.  CEU: not offered.  Registration: Please contact Sandi Wiggins at 940-349-2923 or sandi.wiggins@dentoncounty.com.

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (both days)  Location: Glenmore Savage Community Room; Lewisville Municipal Annex, Civic Circle, Lewisville. Cost: Free. 

Course description: Crisis intervention is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. Crisis interventions are typically done individually (one on one) or in groups. This program is designed to teach participants the fundamentals of, and a specific protocol for, individual intervention. The audience for this class includes both emergency services, military, and business/industrial peer support personnel without formal training in mental health, as well as mental health professionals, who desire to increase their knowledge of individual crisis intervention techniques. (13 contact hours).   CEU: offered.

Registration: Please contact Betsy Haggard at 940-349-2922 or betsy.haggard@dentoncounty.com. Please make sure you register for the class to reserve your spot.