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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.

 

HAITIAN RELIEF EFFORTS

There are no plans to deploy to Haiti at this time. One immediate way to help is through monetary donation. However, be careful how you do so.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is advising people to be careful when evaluating donation programs related to the earthquake in Haiti as one security firm is already seeing scam e-mails circulate, such as one from a fake British Red Cross.

People should apply a "critical eye" to requests for financial donations following Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti. "Make contributions directly to well-known organizations rather than relying on others to make the donation on your behalf," the FBI said in its advisory.

We do not endorse any specific charitable organization. Here is an ouside link for a list of reputable charities. 

We will continue send out updates through e-mail and post on our Facebook Page.  If you have not received an e-mail from the IMERT-INVENT office in the past week, please contact us to ensure your correct e-mail is on file.

New CDC documents posted for Haiti Earthquake

The following new documents have been posted to the CDC Earthquake website.  Emergency Wound Management for Healthcare Professionals These principles can assist with wound management and aid in the prevention of amputations. In the wake of a flood disaster resources are limited. Following these basic wound management steps can help prevent further medical problems.

NEW: Public Health Issues and Priorities for the Haiti Earthquake Based on previous experience with disasters in Haiti and earthquakes in other countries, CDC has a general understanding of what the public health needs will be in Haiti following the January 12th earthquake.The following projections and recommendations take into account Haiti's socio-economic and demographic situation, and the health of its people prior to the earthquake.

NEW: Guidance for Relief Workers and Others Traveling to Haiti for Earthquake Response This notice is to advise relief workers and other personnel traveling to Haiti to assist with the humanitarian response following the January 12 earthquake near Port-au-Prince. Conditions in the area remain hazardous, including extensive damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. NEW: Travel Health Warning to Haiti At this time, CDC recommends that U.S. travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Haiti.

NEW: Guidance for U.S. Residents in Haiti The US Department of State has issued guidance to US residents in Haiti.

UPDATED: Health Recommendations for Relief Workers Responding to Disasters This notice provides advice specific to the needs of relief workers responding to disasters internationally or domestically.

UPDATED: After an Earthquake: Management of Crush Injuries & Crush Syndrome Crush injury and crush syndrome may result from structural collapse during an earthquake. Crush injury is defined as compression of extremities or other parts of the body that causes muscle swelling and/or neurological disturbances in the affected areas of the body. CDC Website

IMERT-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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March 16, 2010 - March 18, 2010

6thAnnual Rural Public Health Institute
BUILDING CAPACITY IN OUR COMMUNITIES

Join public health professionals from across the nation at the 6thAnnual Rural Public Health Institute. The 6thAnnual Rural Public Health Institute will provide half and full day training workshops on current, timely topics in the area of Rural Public Health and Preparedness!

Thelma Keller Convention Center, Effingham, IL



Event Information/Printable Brochure

March 16, 2010

INVENT/IMERT 2010 Domestic Preparedness

Improving Provider Response to Chemical/Biological/Radiological/
Nuclear/Explosive/Mass Casualty Incident Events

Registration 12:30pm - 1:00pm
Course 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Rock Island County Health Department
2112 25th Avenue
Rock Island, IL 61201

Required course for all IMERT and INVENT members. Session has a ten person minimum. Participants will be informed two weeks before the course date if the minimum has been met.


Event Information/Printable Brochure
Register Online

March 16, 2010

INVENT/IMERT 2010 Domestic Preparedness - Nurses's Role When Disaster Strikes

Improving Provider Response to Chemical/Biological/Radiological/
Nuclear/Explosive/Mass Casualty Incident Events

Registration 12:30pm - 1:00pm
Course 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Rock Island County Health Department
2112 25th Avenue
Rock Island, IL 61201

Required course for all IMERT and INVENT members. Session has a ten person minimum. Participants will be informed two weeks before the course date if the minimum has been met.


Event Information/Printable Brochure
Register Online

March 16, 2010

INVENT/IMERT

CPR Provider Course
BLS Healthcare Provider

Registration 7:30am - 8:00am
Course 8:00am - 12:00pm

Rock Island County Health Department
2112 25th Avenue
Rock Island, IL 61201

Session has a ten person minimum. Participants will be informed two weeks before the course date if the minimum has been met.



Event Information/Printable Brochure
Register Online

March 17, 2010

Deployment Operations Course

This course is for IMERT-INVENT members only

Registration 8:00am - 8:30am
Training Session 8:30am - 12:30pm

Rock Island County Health Department
Rock Island, IL

Required course for all IMERT and INVENT members. Session has a ten person minimum. Participants will receive confirmation details one week before the course date if the minimum has been met.

Register Online

Event Information/Printable Brochure

April 9, 2010

Children and Disasters - Is Your Hospital Prepared?

The Hyatt Lodge
Oakbrook, IL

Sponsored by Illinois Emegency Medical Services for Children EMSC

This is not an IMERT or INVENT event

Register Online


Event Information/Printable Brochure


April 9, 2010

Children and Disasters: Is your Hospital Prepared?

Ensuring that hospitals are appropriately prepared to handle the needs of children during and in the aftermath of a disaster is critical. Illinois’ pediatric population is significant in size with more than 3 million children and adolescents age 17 years and younger; 900,000 of those are age 5 or younger.

Hyatt Lodge Oakbrook
Hamburger University
Oakbrook, IL

8:30am - 3:30pm

To Register

This is not an IMERT or INVENT event


Event Information/Printable Brochure


April 13, 2010

Deployment Operations Course
This course is for IMERT-INVENT members only

Registration 4:45 pm
Training Session 5:00pm - 9:00pm

ICEP Conference Center
Downers Grove, IL

Required course for all IMERT and INVENT members. Session has a ten person minimum. Participants will receive confirmation details one week before the course date if the minimum has been met.
Register Online

Event Information/Printable Brochure

April 30, 2010

INVENT/IMERT 2010 Domestic Preparedness

Improving Provider Response to Chemical/Biological/Radiological/
Nuclear/Explosive/Mass Casualty Incident Events

Registration 12:30pm - 1:00pm
Course 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center
700 Broadway Ave, Suite 9
Mattoon, IL 61938

Required course for all IMERT and INVENT members. Session has a ten person minimum. Participants will be informed two weeks before the course date if the minimum has been met.



Event Information/Printable Brochure
Register Online

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