FAU and Sheba Medical Center Partner on Emergency Management

FAU has developed a comprehensive approach to education in disaster management, offering continuing education programs and regular classes, as well as direct field training experience and exercises.

By james hellegaard | 8/9/2018

Florida Atlantic University is partnering with Sheba Medical Center, Israel, to launch FAU’s International Center for Emergency Management (ICEM).

In this collaboration, Sheba’s world-class experts will work with FAU to develop and deliver educational programs, conduct research and build additional response and leadership capabilities in Florida. For example, several Israeli experts will team up to teach a week-long Intensive Emergency Management Training program in October at FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

“At FAU, we look to create world-class opportunities,” said Daniel Gropper, dean of the College of Business at FAU. “The Israelis are recognized as being the best in responding to disasters around the world, and we are proud to partner with them to build this program here in Florida.”

Established at the FAU College of Business in 2016, the ICEM works in collaboration with the FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, the College for Design and Social Inquiry and the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Yitshak Kreiss, M.D., former surgeon general of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and director general of Sheba Medical Center, will serve as the ICEM’s honorary president.

“FAU and its community will have, in my eyes, the privilege, not the option, to do something for humanity,” said Kreiss, who is also a courtesy member of the faculty at both FAU’s College of Business and Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. “A critically important factor in recovery, in areas of disaster, is hope. Our vision is we can always do something.”

FAU has developed a comprehensive approach to education in disaster management, offering continuing education programs and regular classes, as well as direct field training experience and exercises.

“The state of Florida will benefit from this collaboration, as our first responders, public safety and health professionals and emergency managers in the field will be even more prepared to lead during any crisis,” said Rebekah Dickinson, chief program officer for the ICEM. “This will help them to optimize the organization and delivery of care to populations, reducing injuries and property loss and hopefully saving lives.”

The ICEM graduated its first 48 students in the 2017-18 academic year in a continuing education professional certificate program in Public Safety Leadership Development through the College of Business’ Executive Education program. These first students come from fire and police departments, as well as other emergency responders and public safety officials.

ICEM offers training programs for local emergency responders and has made other outreach efforts in the community, recently leading a roundtable discussion at the 2018 Governor’s Hurricane Conference. This summer, ICEM worked with the Christine E Lynn College of Nursing to welcome the IDF Chief Nursing Officer and her top two nurses to train nearly 70 regional nurses in emergency management.

The ICEM Board of Advisors boasts more than 50 members, led by Chairman Ira J. Gelb, M.D., a board-certified cardiologist, who also serves as senior academic advisor for pre-baccalaureate programs and professor of integrated medical science at FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.

“I’m so excited about this project,” said Gelb. “What we’re doing now, thanks to the combined visions of FAU President John Kelly, Dean Gropper and Dr. Kreiss, we’re going to help people worldwide. This is one of the great professional highlights of my life, to have an emergency management center at FAU, to partner with the best in the world. Ultimately, this training can help save peoples’ lives. When you save somebody, it’s a mitzvah, it’s a blessing.”

Elhanan Bar-On, M.D., director of the Israel Center for Disaster Medicine and Humanitarian Response at Sheba, is the lead professor for an ICEM training program to be held at FAU from October 14-20. It will focus on leadership in response to natural disasters, mass casualty incidents, Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) and more.

“This collaboration with FAU can be a big multiplier for both institutions,” said Bar-On. “In this case, two and two can easily become larger than four. With our advance visits at the Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference and our communications and planning for the training program, we are ready to come back in October to provide the best training for all of the people who come and participate.”

For more information about the ICEM and to register for training programs, please visit www.fau.edu/savinglives.

-FAU-