ETSU College of Public Health, Holston Valley participate in Refugee Experience
Planning for potential emergency situations is essential for any organization, as it gives leaders and staff practical experience to apply should an actual event occur.
Recently, the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health hosted the Holston Valley Medical Center leadership team for an all-day “Refugee Experience” at Valleybrook, an ETSU training and meeting facility in Washington County.
Working with Tim Attebery, who serves as Holston Valley’s president, Dr. Mike Stoots, undergraduate coordinator for the College of Public Health, and his team designed and delivered a day-long training program designed to develop intensive teamwork, and, at the same time, test the group’s ability to work in a low-resource environment.
“The Refugee Experience has proven to be a very effective mechanism to help build teamwork and cooperation and, at the same time, provide skills that could be directly relevant in a disaster situation,” Dean Randy Wykoff said. “Holston Valley is a major regional partner, and it was a pleasure to be able to work with their leadership team to develop and execute this refugee experience.”
The day started with dividing the leadership team into two separate groups and asking each to prepare separate “refugee camps,” each ready to receive 25 people. Each group had to purchase supplies, clear the ground, set up tents, organize food and create a sanitation field. Just as these tasks were being completed, the groups were asked to come together to prepare two clinics for the refugees.
Throughout the day, the groups were presented with “real-life” scenarios using scripted actors, such as local “villagers” telling them that they had to move the camps and a woman arriving in labor. The challenge was to see if the groups could work together, respond to rapidly changing situations, and, at the same time, provide appropriate care for the refugees.
“We have enjoyed a collaborative relationship with East Tennessee State University and benefited greatly from this event,” Attebery said. “Our hospital regularly trains for all types of emergency situations, and teamwork internally and with external partners is an essential part of the process. The Refugee Experience was an excellent way for us to share best practices with each other and strengthen our processes to ensure a successful outcome should we experience such an event in the future.”
Those who had a part in the exercise shared afterward that they saw the value of both organizations engaging in this exercise.
One participant said, “The complexity of the story lends itself to teaching ingenuity and delegation of tasks. Shelter creation, triage processing and organizational needs required thoughtful planning. This was excellent for our group.” Another said, “For our work environment, this worked effectively to demonstrate he need for more specific communication, direction, and establishing clear expectations for each team member’s roles.”
For more information about the ETSU College of Public Health, visit www.etsu.edu/cph. For more information about Holston Valley, visit www.wellmont.org.