Public Health Incident Leadership Training

Training for public health practitioners with leadership responsibilities during responses to disasters and events with public health implications.

On this page:
Course Purpose
Course Participants
Course Length
Course Design
Additional Course Materials
More Information

Course Purpose

The purpose of this course is to enhance the ability of Public Health Incident Commanders and other public health leaders to lead and manage a public health emergency response by:

• Recognizing how to apply everyday leadership skills to emergency response.
• Improving critical communication skills used during a response.
• Increasing knowledge and understanding of the Public Health Incident Commander’s role and expectations and of the roles and expectations of the Incident Management Team.
• Learning or reviewing tools and strategies that will help Incident Commanders form and manage effective Incident Management Teams.

This training is intended to complement, not replace, FEMA’s NIMS ICS All-Hazards Incident Commander training.

Course Participants

This course is intended for public health professionals who have, or could serve, as Incident Commanders or significant leadership positions during a response. If this course is being used outside of public health or health care, instructors may want to change some of the language and examples to better meet the needs and experiences of different disciplines.

Course Length

The course length can vary depending upon the length of discussions and the use of optional activities. Delivered as written and in one session, it can take approximately 5½ hours, not including breaks.

Course Design

This course was developed by the Minnesota Department of Health in partnership with the University of Minnesota: Simulations, Exercises and Effective Education Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, (U-SEEE PERRC) and funded through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  It is divided into five main modules plus an introductory and concluding module. An overview and link to the presentations that support the delivery of the course content is presented below.

• Introduction (Powerpoint)
  This brief set of slides covers some basic orientation information for participants and provides a brief overview of the modules that make up the course.
   
• Module 1: Leadership (Powerpoint)
  This module discusses the importance of leadership skills for Public Health Incident Commanders and looks at the similarities and differences between everyday leadership skills and leadership skills needed for emergency response.
   
• Module 2: Communication (Powerpoint)
  This module focuses on critical interpersonal communication skills that Incident Commanders should know, use and role model for their teams.
   
• Module 3: Roles, Responsibilities and Expectations (Powerpoint)
  This module reviews the role of the Incident Commander and the roles of each member of the Incident Management Team (IMT). The module also discusses expectations that the Incident Commander has of the IMT and the expectations the IMT has of the Incident Commander.
   
• Module 4: Team Formation (Powerpoint)
  This module presents information on what the Incident Commander must do to build a high reliability team, including providing an orientation to set the tone, communicating expectations and taking care of oneself and one’s team.
   
• Module 5: Managing the Team (Powerpoint)
  This module focused on tools that the Incident Commander can use to manage the Incident Management Team. These tools include developing objectives, following the Planning P and using the Incident Command System forms to document the response activities.
   
• Conclusion: (Powerpoint)
  This set of slides recaps the concepts, strategies, and tools presented in each of the modules, and the tools discussed for managing the Incident Management Team.

Additional Course Materials

Additional materials developed to support the delivery of the Public Health Incident Leadership Training course are presented below:

• Student Handouts:
  • Module 2: Role Play Activity (PDF)
  • Module 4: Incident Commander Orientation Checklist (PDF)
  • Module 5: Operational Planning "P" for Command Activities (PDF)
  • Module 5: Incident Command System (ICS) Forms List (PDF)
  • Module 5: Bingo Cards (PDF)
  • Module 5: Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics Exercise (PDF)
• Administrative Manual (PDF)
• Behavioral Markers Observation Tool (PDF)
• Evaluating Incident Commander Performance: Incident Commander Observation Tool Training (PDF)
• MDH Training Course Evaluation Form (Word)