Sponsored by the Penn State Center for Security Research and Education (CSRE) in partnership with Penn State Harrisburg/Penn State Homeland Security Programs, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, and Pennsylvania Department of Health.

This event will be held at PEMA headquarters in Harrisburg.

Event objectives:

• Identify the current processes, procedures, gaps and potential improvements in state and local response (immediate lifesaving) to a sudden increase in opioid overdoses within a geographic region.
• Identify the current processes, procedures, gaps and potential improvements in state and local medium-term response to a sudden increase in opioid overdoses, including access to treatment (handoff) and management of fatal overdoses (mass fatality).
• Identify the current processes, procedures, gaps and potential improvements in addressing the psychological effects to first responders (including 911 dispatchers) and the medical/behavioral health treatment community (responder health and safety).
• Identify existing relevant Penn State research to address those challenges.
• Further understand the need to enhance/build cultures of preparedness that can foster resilience in responder communities, in particular related to burnout, secondary traumatic stress, self-care techniques, and/or family involvement.
• Identify next steps to promulgate education and training around known and future best practices.
• Identify and prioritize research gaps for Penn State consideration/action.

The program includes agency briefings, a table top exercise in three modules, moderated by Andrew Pickett, Director of Public Health Preparedness, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and a hot wash that also includes a Penn State experts panel on the research response to the challenges identified in the exercise. Further included is a tour of the Commonwealth Response Coordination Center.

The scenario for the tabletop exercise will focus on a “whole-community” response to a sudden increase of opioid overdoses (with approx. 150 people affected) within the lower Susquehanna valley over a compressed time frame (one weekend). Each module will focus on a particular phase of this hypothetical future event and particular resilience-related challenges for individuals and communities in the opioid response.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 19