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Illinois Department of Public Health

IMERT

ENA

Welcome to INVENT

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THE ILLINOIS NURSE TEAM

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The Illinois Nurse Team (INVENT) is a volunteer group of Registered Nurses (RNs) trained to provide nursing care during a state declared disaster or emergency situation. Examples of circumstances under which INVENT may be activated include; mass casualty incidents, mass immunization efforts, or local hospital surges.INVENT may also be activated to enhance an IMERT response, to staff field hospitals, to assist local health departments with post-exposure follow-up, and to assist with the Illinois Poison Control Disaster Hotline.

Partnering with other agencies such as: IDPH, Emergency Medical Services for Children, IMERT, Emergency Nurses Associations, Illinois College of Emergency Physicians, and Illinois Poison Control, nurses from all backgrounds are pre-credentialed and provided with preparedness training.

We are currently seeking RNs from all backgrounds and specialty areas to join INVENT.

 

Deployment Development Training Conference

for Team Members to Practice & Prepare

 

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The Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT) and INVENT, the Illinois Nurse Team, introduced a new training course for its members in May. The Deployment Development Training program provided two days of skills demonstration and practice exercises in a simulated deployment environment.

The debut Deployment Development was held May 2-3, 2009, at the ILEAS Training Center in Urbana and attracted about 80 team members.

The program was developed to teach the confidence and practical skills necessary to be a better disaster responder, focusing on communication and collaboration as the keys to success for a more effective team. Participants were required to report to the seminar as they would for a real-world deployment, in uniform with their personal gear cache packed and ready for use.

The first day of the seminar combined presentations and hands-on skills stations to demonstrate the IMERT equipment package and its utilization in an alternate-case site setting. All of the elements critical to establishing a successful deployment environment were included.

Participants determined better ways to pack their personal gear caches; reviewed the supplies that comprise the medical package; set up and organized supplies and equipment as it would be in a real deployment; utilized the radios and patient scanners, learned about specialized equipment including the GenSat trailer and disaster tent; practiced patient conveyance procedures with stretchers, backboards, and 4-wheel utility vehicles; and reviewed JumpSTART triage protocols.

On the second day, participants put their skills to the test in a daylong real-time exercise that simulated a deployment exactly as IMERT-INVENT members will experience it in real-world action. As the seminar was held right as the swine flu outbreak was building, the scenario simulated a pandemic.

The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive, both from team members who have participated in previous deployments and those for whom this was the first “field” experience with the IMERT-INVENT team.

Participants called the new program “the best IMERT training [they’d] ever been to” and “the ultimate see-it, hear-it, do-it weekend.”

As the course was so well-received, IMERT-INVENT plans to offer Deployment Development Training seminars on a more frequent basis. The seminar is open to all IMERT-INVENT team members looking for additional training experience and continuing education credit.

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News

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Honor Flight Drawing Results

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View past articles.

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Events

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September 8, 2010 - September 11, 2010

ICISF Conference

The lastest training and education on
Comprehensive Crisis Intervention Systems

Chicago Marriott Oakbrook
Oakbrook, IL 60523

For additional information

November 16, 2010 - November 17, 2010

PUBLIC INFORMATION IN A WMD/TERRORISM INCIDENT
*This is not an IMERT event*

This two-day course provides practical training in crisis communication techniques, and will focus on the role of public information in incident management, the information needs of the public in a crisis, and the various means of effectively communicating through the news media.

Event Information/Printable Brochure

December 15, 2010 - December 16, 2010

ENHANCED THREAT & RISK ASSESSMENT
*This is not an IMERT event*

This training is designed for those who respond to or have oversight responsibility for incidents cause by terrorism, natural disasters, major accidents, and all other hazards. The two-day course enhances the basic “Threat & Risk Assessment” course (MGT-310) by teaching participants how to apply all phases of the DHS and FEMA risk management process to jurisdictional critical infrastructure and key resources. (Note: attending the basic course is recommended but not required.)

Event Information/Printable Brochure

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