Public Health Emergencies
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Course Overview
The Health Protection CPD Day is an interactive, scenario-based professional development programme designed for healthcare and public health professionals involved in the prevention, investigation and management of infectious disease and environmental health incidents in Ireland. This pilot event has been developed with the vision of establishing a recurring series of CPD days that address the complex decision-making, risk assessment and multidisciplinary collaboration required in modern health protection practice.
Using realistic public health scenarios, participants will work through common and challenging incidents encountered in health protection, supported by expert facilitation and group discussion. The programme combines active participatory learning with practical insights from experienced public health practitioners, enabling attendees to strengthen both their technical knowledge and their applied decision-making skills.
Topics covered include the investigation and control of hepatitis A outbreaks, the differentiation of vaccine-associated and wild-type measles, risk assessment and post-exposure management of varicella in high-risk groups, and the public health response to a toxic fire affecting a residential community. Through these scenarios, participants will explore key issues such as outbreak investigation, exposure assessment, vaccination and prophylaxis decisions, environmental risk assessment, incident management structures, and effective public communication during public health emergencies.
The course is intended for consultants in public health medicine, senior area medical officers, registrars, public health nurses, laboratory professionals and others involved in incident response and health protection activities. By the end of the day, participants will have enhanced their ability to assess risk, implement evidence-based interventions, communicate effectively with stakeholders and contribute confidently to the management of infectious disease and environmental health incidents.
Tentative Date: End of October.
- 10:00-10:30 Arrival and Registration
- 10:30-10:50 Welcome and Faculty Introduction
- 10:50-12:30 Hepatitis A Scenario
- 12:30-13:00 Break
- 13:00-13:30 Mini Measles: Differentiating Vaccine-Related and Wild-Type Measles
- 13:30-14:00 Varicella in High-Risk Contacts
- 14:00-14:20 Break
- 14:20-15:20 Public Health Management of a Toxic Fire Near a Residential Area
- 15:20-15:45 Review and Questions
Doctors and nurses working in the investigation and control of infectious disease and environmental hazards in Ireland, or those who are considering applying for public health jobs of training schemes. The course is also suitable for people who work closely with health protection teams and would like to learn more about the specialty (E.g. microbiology, infectious disease and GP trainees).
Target audience includes: Public health medicine consultants with an out of hours health protection commitment, senior medical officers, health protection nurses, public health medicine, microbiology, infectious diseases and general practice trainees, doctors and nurses applying for public health medicine training schemes and other staff in similar roles who contribute to clinical public health incident management and have CPD needs for a breadth of understanding and skills in incident response.
By the end of the programme participants will be able to:
- Conduct risk assessments for infectious disease exposures and environmental incidents
- Apply evidence-based approaches to outbreak investigation and control
- Assess the need for post-exposure interventions in a range of public health scenarios
- Interpret clinical, laboratory, and environmental information to support decision-making
- Communicate risk effectively to the public and stakeholders during incidents
- Understand the role of multidisciplinary collaboration in health protection responses
Prof Noel Mc Carthy
Noel McCarthy is Professor of Population Health Medicine in Trinity College Dublin. His clinical background includes work as a consultant in communicable disease control and regional epidemiologist in the UK, field epidemiology training in the UK and international outbreak and incident work with MSF. A substantial part of his research has involved integrating research approaches in the control of outbreaks and infectious disease control.
Dr Niall Conroy (HSE and TCD Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer)
Niall Conroy is a consultant in public health medicine and health protection with the Dublin & South-East department of public health, where he is also the regional lead for gastrointestinal diseases, zoonoses, emerging threats and emergency planning. He is also a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the School of Medicine, TCD. Previously, Niall trained in public health medicine in Australia. He has worked in Sierra Leone, Somalia and Nepal. Most recently he was Director of Public Health in Wide Bay, Queensland.
Dr John Gannon (HSE)
Dr Kevin Browne (HSE)
Dr Brian Keating (HSE)
Registration Fees : TBC
Eventbrite link to follow.
Email MedCPD@tcd.ie for further details.