International Training Centre

NEWSSpring 2014

WELCOME TO THE INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE’SNEWSLETTER

Welcome! I am pleased to launch the inaugural edition of the InternationalTraining Centre’s newsletter. It has beenover a year since the International Training Centre (ITC) was launched and timely to report on some of the activities that have taken place in that time.

This newsletter will be distributed twice ayear and will cover some of the exciting and innovative developments at Cardiff School ofHealth Sciences regarding teaching andtraining for public health practitioners.

I hope that you will enjoy reading aboutsome of the activities highlighted here.

Further information can be found at: www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/itc

Peter SykesDirector of EnterpriseCardiff School of Health Sciences

Prof Adrian PetersDean of the Cardiff School of Health Sciences

INSIDE: ITC Launch | Elearning | ArcopolPlus | International Teaching & TrainingRecent & Future Events | The Chulabhorn Research Institute | Meet the Team

The Centre was launched on April20th 2012 as a collaboration

between Cardiff Metropolitan University,the Health Protection Agency’s WHOCollaborating Centre (now part of PublicHealth England), G7+ Mexico’s GlobalHealth Security Action Group, WHO andPublic Health Wales. The launch was also supported by Welsh Government andthe Department of Health.

The ITC’s principal aim is to blend expertiseand nurture partnerships in order to provide acentre of excellence for novel, innovative andworld-class teaching and training. The ITC is currently developing a platform forcontinuing international professional development in all discipline areas of CardiffSchool of Health Science’s portfolio. These programmes will be delivered on-lineand through outreach activities with global partners.

ITC LaunchThe ITC’s Principal

Aim is to blend expertiseand nurture partnerships

in order to provide a centre of excellence for

novel, innovative and world-class teaching

The ITC has developed e-learningmaterials for public health and allied

professionals on the management ofchemical incidents. The materials coverthe principal components of the publichealth management of chemical incidentsand include the fundamental componentsof hazard identification and riskassessment, risk prioritisation, riskmitigation, emergency planning andpreparedness, response and recovery.

The materials are delivered via Moodle, a software package for producing Internet-based courses. Moodle can beaccessed from anywhere with an Internetconnection. Learning materials include amixture of powerpoint presentations,interviews with experts, case studies,scenarios and exercises as well aschecklists and self-assessment questions.

The materials can be found onmoodle.uwic.ac.uk for which youwill need login details. Send yourdetails to itc@cardiffmet.ac.uk andan account will be set up for you

Study with us

The ITC recently hosted the ARCOPOLplusinternational conference with partners

from the UK, Republic of Ireland, France,Spain and Portugal, the conference coveredtopical subjects in the field of marine pollution including creating public communications, identifying and deploying required resourcesand planning strategies to aid the response to and recovery from - maritime incidents.

Delegates discussed the risks associated withthe increase in the maritime transportation ofhazardous and noxious substances (HNS)across the globe and across Europe in particular. There is an international recognitionthat spills of these substances pose potentialrisks to the environment, to ecology and to public health.

ARCOPOL Plus

Belgrade, SerbiaIn March 2013, a 2-day workshop washeld at the Institute of Public Health inBelgrade, Serbia. Held in conjunction withWHO Euro and with participants fromSerbia, Albania, Moldova and Bosnia theworkshop specifically addressed theobligations of the International HealthRegulations (IHR) regarding public healthcapacity building and resilience in the fieldof chemical incident management. Itaddressed key aspects such as hazard andrisk, risk prioritisation and mitigation,integrated emergency management andresponse.

Miami, FloridaThe Pan American Health Organisation(PAHO) hosted a workshop in Miami,Florida in May of this year. Withparticipation from 15 Caribbean countries,the ITC was represented by DannySokolowski from Health Canada whofacilitated the running of an exercisefocusing upon emergency planning andpreparedness. The exercise provided ascenario that tested each individualcountry’s national response plan. Theworkshop concluded that planning andpreparedness for major chemical incidentsand events tended to reflect thecomplexity of the chemical industry in agiven country. It is hoped that furthertraining will be organised in the future.

Hong KongIn April 2013, members of the WHO-Collaborating Centre and CardiffMetropolitan University hosted aworkshop on the public healthmanagement of chemical incidents at theSchool of Professional and ContinuingEducation, Hong Kong University.Attended by local emergency physicians,environmental health officers, publichealth consultants and policy makers theworkshop focused upon identifying andmanaging risk, developing and updatingchemical plans and co-ordinatedemergency response. It culminated in anexercise probing the planning required forand response to-a major maritimechemical incident involving the release atthe port of Hong Kong of hydrogenfluoride.

David Russell with delegates from the Public Health Management ofChemical Incidents workshop at Hong Kong University

The Chulabhorn Research InstituteMembers of the ITC recently contributedto Chulabhorn Research Institute’s annualEnvironmental Toxicology programme inBangkok, Thailand in December.Attended by students and professionalsfrom south East Asia, the course coveredthe principal aspects of hazard and risk,the physic-chemical properties of majorair, water, soil and food pollutants. Itculminated in a practical risk assessmentsession based upon case studiesillustrating key aspects of scenariosassociated with air and water pollution andfood contamination

Spreading the World: International Teaching & Training

Recent and Future Events

28 Nov – 13 Dec 2013International Training Course on

Essentials of Chemical Safety: Principlesof Toxicology and Risk Assessment,

Bangkok, Thailand

5 – 6 February 2014Canadian Workshop on Chemical

Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism, Ottawa, Canada

Date to be confirmedEnvironmental Public Health Teaching,

Kenya Medical Training College, Nairobi, Kenya

Meet the Team

David Russell is a visiting professor ofEnvironment and Health at CardiffMetropolitan University. He runs the WHOCollaborating Centre for Chemical Incidentsand is the co-chair of G7 +Mexico ChemicalEvents Working Group.

Peter Sykes is a principal lecturer andDirector of Enterprise at Cardiff School ofHealth Sciences. Peter is a senior educationadvisor to the WHO-CC and is activelyinvolved in teaching, training and research inEnvironmental and Occupational RiskAssessment approaches and applications.

Andrew Kibble is Operations Manager ofthe Wales office of Public Health England’sCentre for Radiation, Chemicals andEnvironment Hazards. His interests focus onchemical risk assessment, environmentalpublic health and risk communication.Andrew has published widely on subjectssuch as contaminated land and health, airquality and cancer, environmentalmonitoring and modelling and most recentlyshale gas. He is a consultant in riskassessment for the WHO CollaboratingCentre for Chemical Incidents.

Gayle Davis is a university lecturer andprofessional trainer, regularly deliveringlectures, seminars and workshops tostudents and professionals. Gayle joined theSchool of Health Sciences in 2011 and leadsthe environmental protection aspects of theBSc (Hons) Environmental Healthprogramme. She has previously held abroader public health role as manager of astrategic public health partnership betweenlocal authority, health board and third sector partners.

Danny Sokolowski is Consultant with theWHO Collaborating Centre for ChemicalIncidents at Cardiff. He has recentlyfacilitated workshops in Belgrade and Miamiwith the purpose of enhancing emergencypreparedness and response for chemicalincidents.

Sian Westcombe is e-learning developer atCardiff School of Health Sciences. Along with subject matter experts she isdeveloping e-learning courses on the PublicHealth Management of Chemical Incidentsand the Management of Maritime ShorelineIncident Response.

Contacts

All elearning and technical queriesshould be addressed to:

Sian WestcombeITC elearning co-ordinator

Tel: 02920416315Email: swestcombe@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Other Contacts

Prof. David RussellDirector of WHO

Collaborating Centre E-mail: David.Russell@phe.gov.uk

Tel: 02920 416381

Dr Peter SykesDirector of ITC and School

Director of Enterprise E-mail: psykes@cardiffmet.ac.uk

Tel: 029 20416831

International Training CentreCardiff Metropolitan University

Llandaff CampusWestern Avenue

Llandaff CardiffCF5 2YB

Find us on the web:www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/itc