Biological Team
The Biological Specialty Team is available to support Region VII through the Region VII Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC), the National Emerging Special Pathogen Training & Education Center (NETEC), and the UNMC Global Center for Health Security. Nebraska Medicine serves as the RESPTC and can be reached via the Medical Call Center. NETEC is a national team focused on special pathogen preparedness that provides education, training, consultation and targeted technical support services accessible via their website. The UNMC Global Center for Health Security creates resources and just-in-time information on current outbreaks and trends.
About the Biological Team
TEAM LEADs
Jackson Gruber, BS
jgruber@nebraskamed.com
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The Region VII Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) and the biological specialty team strives to provide meaningful support for colleagues from healthcare facilities and EMS agencies through training, education, and outreach consistent with current and future biological outbreaks.
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Through the Region 7 RESPTC, the biological team creates meaningful educational content, training materials, and other resources for the stakeholders within region 7.
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The National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) helps the country prepare the health care system, protect the health care workforce, and respond to special pathogen events by coordinating special pathogen care across the United States.
The NSPS consists of a tiered System of Care, made up of health care facilities across the country, and is operationalized by the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) as its Coordinating Body. Other health care and public health partners with capabilities in readiness, response, and recovery play a key role in supporting health care facilities across the country to respond to special pathogen events.
Learn more:
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The Nebraska Biocontainment Unit is designed for safe and effective treatment of patients infected with highly hazardous communicable diseases (e.g., viral hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola virus disease and Lassa fever, smallpox, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [MERS]), whether acquired in a laboratory accident, as a natural occurring infection, or in a bioterrorism attack.
In 2014, the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit was one of three units selected to care for patients infected with Ebola virus disease medically evacuated from West Africa.
In 2020, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine provided quarantine services for American citizens evacuated from Wuhan, China - the original epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unit personnel consists of a voluntary staff of select physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, and respiratory therapists specially trained in high-level isolation and bio preparedness.
As the RESPTC for the Region VII area, the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit is prepared to care for patients with highly hazardous communicable infectious diseases and has committed to sharing our knowledge and expertise by providing educational offerings. The education is delivered in multiple formats such as courses, webinars, videos, and zoom conversations with experts on relevant topics.
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Click here to see our Biological Resources & Training page.
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