HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY - J. RYDINGSWORD

Approve Out of State Travel for Two Public Health Staff to Attend the 2016 Infectious Disease Week (IDWeek) Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana for October 26-30, 2016.

SBC FILE NUMBER: 130

The 2016 IDWeek conference provides public-health officials, infectious disease researchers, and healthcare professionals with up-to-the-moment information on infectious disease prevention and research. The conference will expand Public Health Nurses’ ability to educate healthcare professionals, fellow staff and local residents on the impact of infectious diseases on our community and how to prevent, respond to, and recover from infectious disease outbreaks.

San Benito County Public Health Services is mandated by the State and Federal government to prevent the spread of, and respond to infectious diseases through diagnosis and investigation and containment.  Currently, the department has only 3 public health nurses on staff, one of whom is the Director of Nursing/Public Health Administrator (Deputy Director) and the 2 remaining are the first responders to infectious disease outbreaks in our community.  They are also relatively new to the field of Public Health.  New and emerging diseases such as Zika, and antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria such as tuberculosis and staphylococcus remind us that it is imperative that our nurses receive the most current and precise training on infectious agents, modes of transmission, incubation, communicability and methods of control.

Last year the conference was in San Diego, California and was attended by two employees.