Biocontainment Unit Training Strategies Toolkit Provides a Roadmap for Training Across the Spectrum of Special Pathogens Response
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Biocontainment Unit Training Strategies Toolkit Provides a Roadmap for Training Across the Spectrum of Special Pathogens Response
The Biocontainment Unit (BCU) Training Strategies Toolkit, developed by NETEC’s BCU Leadership Workgroup with members from the nation’s Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Centers (RESPTCs), is a resource for health care facilities at every level of special pathogens care.
This toolkit includes strategies for staff recruitment, training, retention, and sustainment of staff who may be working in special pathogen isolation areas. All facilities, regardless of the type, should incorporate preparedness strategies into every day patient care. Each chapter outlines the differentiated level of care required within each tier of the regional approach. The document is meant to serve programs as a guide and a tool.
Origins of the BCU Training Strategies Toolkit
Staffing, recruitment, and retention of team members are among the greatest challenges facing BCUs. Beginning in 2019, the BCU Leadership Workgroup established a task force to outline key components for staff recruitment, engagement, retention, and training for special pathogens care. This effort resulted in the BCU Training Strategies Toolkit, which provides recommendations for health care facilities at each of the four tiers of special pathogens care as outlined in 2015 (https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/hpp/reports/Documents/RETN-Ebola-Report-508.pdf, Accessed 5/25/2023) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2015: frontline facilities, assessment hospitals, state treatment centers, and regional treatment centers.
While the tiered structure for special pathogen response has changed since 2015 and the development of the National Special Pathogens System of Care (NSPS) Strategy, the principals, resources, tools, and recommendations can be applied to new, rebuilding, and existing BCU teams.
About the BCU Leadership Workgroup
NETEC’s BCU Leadership Workgroup was established in 2017 with the goal of encouraging collaboration among the RESPTCs. Over it’s 7-year history, the BCU Leadership Workgroup has grown, expanding it’s focus to include identifying key challenges and opportunities facing biocontainment unit level care, fostering a collegial environment among operational leaders at the 13 RESPTCs, and developing targeted task forces to address shared goals.
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