WORKFORCE
Emerging Leaders Develop Guide
to the Unpredictable
by Mary Bonifas, quality assurance officer, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Tyler Wolford, MS, manager, Emergency
Preparedness and Response
At public health laboratories, the only
thing predictable is the unpredictable. An
emerging infectious disease, government
shutdown, natural disaster, shortage
of consumables or other public health
threat can emerge at any time, day or
night,* and these threats are growing in
complexity and scope. Disease outbreaks,
for example, increasingly span multiple
jurisdictions and/or countries, placing
added pressure on laboratories to respond
effectively. If only there were a reference
that laboratory scientists could turn to
when an unprecedented event occurs.
Thanks to the hard work of Cohort 11 of
APHL’s Emerging Leader Program (ELP),
there will soon be such a reference.
After considering a range of issues
affecting public health laboratories, the
14-member group opted to create, as their
special project, a guide consolidating
the expertise of dozens of laboratory
emergency response experts into a single
volume. Designed as a complement to
existing public health laboratory response
plans, the guide will share insights,
considerations and lessons learned by
threat category. When an event arises,
users will be able to scan the related
section to find practical information
unavailable elsewhere. Since public health
laboratories operate within government
agencies where information sharing may
be limited and operations siloed, rapid
access to such guidance will be invaluable.
The guide is slated for publication within
the year. For more information on its
status and content, contact Tyler Wolford,
manager, Emergency Preparedness and
Response, at [email protected],
240.485.2775. n
APHL provides public health, environmental,
agricultural and food safety laboratory
managers, supervisors and directors with
an opportunity to advance their leadership
capabilities through the Emerging Leader
Program (ELP). ELP encourages personal
and professional growth among a cohort
of laboratory and other public health
professionals. Upon completion of the
program, participants gain an invaluable
network and a broader skill set that directly
benefits the individual, the host laboratory
and, ultimately, the greater public health
laboratory system.
ELP Cohort 11 outside the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
* Some public health laboratory scientists contend that a health threat is most likely to emerge late on a Friday afternoon;
however, this observation has yet to be verified.
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
Winter 2020 LAB MATTERS
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