2007 - Alabama Department of Public Health

ureau of health promotion and chronic disease
in Alabama but also around the world. Division staff
utilize innovative Web software to produce Web-based
educational programs. Working side-by-side with the
video broadcast specialists, the division’s Web specialists
use multimedia techniques to produce customized
on-line training and education materials that department
employees around the state can watch whenever and
wherever they want on a personal computer. This provides
specialized Web-based information from the trainer to
the learner efficiently and effectively. Working with the
department’s learning management system known as
the LCMS (Learning Content Management System),
division staff have been instrumental in the design of
many unique features specific to distance learning.
Another major initiative for the division this year
was the establishment of a video conferencing system
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of
Public Health. This two-way video and two-way audio
distance learning conferencing system is a huge benefit
for workforce development as department employees
now have the opportunity to take classes live via distance
learning.
Emergency communications continue to play a
significant role in the activities of the division as the
department’s satellite uplink and production vehicle
is fully equipped for disaster response. New systems
integrated in the vehicle result in a fully versatile mobile
unit which now provides video production capability,
satellite broadcasts in either analog or digital formats,
live or on-demand webcasts, connectivity via satellite
for wireless Internet, e-mail, fax, and IP phone use, a
satellite phone, four cell phones, DSS-receive capability,
and other customized features which can serve to
accommodate routine communications or emergency
broadcast operations and response. All of these services
can be deployed without land-based connectivity
requirements including power, telephone lines, or video
cables. The truck’s original 13-year-old satellite antenna
and the related antenna control electronics were replaced
and upgraded. Combined, these improvements ensure
reliable and versatile broadcast satellite, voice, and data
communications from any location around the state for
training, education, public information, or emergency
response.
Division staff routinely prove the widespread benefits
to provide urgent and timely information to employees
and the media through news conferences by satellite
broadcast with live simultaneous webcasts. The
department continues to excel as a state and national
leader in distance learning. It has been 15 years since
the Video Division produced the first satellite conference
for department employees and the ADPH continues
to lead the state and the nation in the utilization of this
technology to educate the public health workforce. The
department is the only state public health agency in the
country to have both the equipment and staff to produce
live satellite conferences for continuing education, inservice
training, and news conferences for the media.
The division initiated national satellite conference
activities and the subsequent development of the Public
Health Training Network (PHTN) by working in
collaboration with the CDC in 1992. Today the PHTN
is the nationally recognized provider of public health
training and education programs with the department
producing more programs than any other state or federal
agency. In 2007, the department produced more than
60 continuing education satellite conferences and live
webcasts for the network and the national public health
workforce.
The department infrastructure includes the Ku-band
satellite uplink vehicle, master control, and a studio as
well as five non-linear suites. In addition, the department
has 65 county health department facilities that have
satellite downlink antennas, which provide convenient
and efficient access for employees to participate in
satellite conference training and educational programs.
Grants from the department provided funding to the
Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Primary
Health Care Association, further expanding the distancelearning
infrastructure by providing 113 satellite
downlink systems to acute care hospitals and community
health centers around Alabama. Thousands of employees
at these facilities are now able to participate in important
preparedness training and educational programs.
The department provides video production and
satellite conferencing/webcast services to other Alabama
agencies and national organizations. The division has
produced satellite conferences/webcasts in conjunction
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