Ga. health workers to get crises training materials

About 150,000 healthcare workers in Georgia will be given emergency preparedness packets that will include brochures and a training video to help prepare workers for a crisis situation and to manage associated stress. The packets will begin to be distributed during the next two months. The cost is expected to be about $450,000 and will be covered by a grant from HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration. The program differs from other preparedness efforts because it targets individual healthcare workers rather than facilities, according to a spokesman for the state's Division of Public Health, which is coordinating the effort. One aim of the program is to help healthcare workers worry less about family members during a crisis, the spokesman added. To achieve that objective, the packet will include a tool to guide healthcare workers in setting up emergency preparedness plans at home. -- by Joseph Mantone