The Training System Monitoring and Reporting Tool (TrainSMART), a web-based training data collection system designed by the International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH), was recently tapped by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Ebola Emergency Operations Center. I-TECH is a center within the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health.
The CDC approached the TrainSMART team to create databases to track safe handling procedures and training of health care staff at non-Ebola health care facilities – that is, facilities not solely focused on Ebola but likely to receive infected patients when they first seek care. Databases were configured for Liberia and Sierra Leone in a matter of days using existing TrainSMART functions, which allow the system to be customized for local needs.
Trainings tracked by the CDC will include basic infection control, sprayer training, community-level (non-health care worker) training, and training of trainers, among others.
TrainSMART is an open-source, web-based software built on technologies appropriate to contexts with limited resources, expertise, and connectivity. The system allows users to accurately track data about health training programs, trainers, and trainees, to better evaluate training programs, plan new programs, and report activities to stakeholders.
The initial development of TrainSMART was funded by a grant administered by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
For more information, contact the Digital Initiatives Group at I-TECH (DIGI).