National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC)

This supplemental FOA offers an important opportunity for the NETEC to address gaps in educational materials and technical assistance for the clinical management of Ebola and emerging infectious diseases and other special pathogens. This will also allow the NETEC to establish an infrastructure for information sharing and coordination of rapid clinical research and the development of readiness metrics for Ebola, airborne and other special pathogens of high consequence. The applicant should propose providing sub-awards to other entities, such as state and local health departments, professional organizations (e.g., critical care, infectious diseases, patient safety, emergency preparedness, emergency medical services (EMS), exercise design, health care epidemiology and infection control, quality, research coordination experts), health care facilities, emergency medical services/transport agencies, waste management experts, and individuals and international groups with expertise in treating patients with Ebola and other special pathogens.

In recognition of the complex nature of preparing the U.S. health care system to safely assess and care for patients with suspected and confirmed Ebola, ASPR and CDC seek to develop a National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC) that will offer state health departments, regional Ebola and special pathogen treatment centers, state- and jurisdiction-based Ebola treatment centers, and assessment hospitals expertise, training, technical assistance, peer review, monitoring, recognition, and certification, if feasible. The NETEC will build a comprehensive set of activities and deliverables for public health departments, U.S. health care providers, and facilities needed to safely and successfully identify, isolate, assess, transport, and treat patients with Ebola or persons under investigation for Ebola, and will develop and lead a national peer review and recognition program for regional Ebola and other special pathogen treatment centers and Ebola treatment centers. Throughout the five-year project period, the NETEC will modify materials developed (e.g., curricula and templates) as the Ebola outbreak evolves and the science changes. The NETEC will be comprised primarily of experts from health care institutions with direct experience in safely and successfully caring for patients with Ebola in the U.S.