About NCUIH’s Project Firstline Activities
This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $5,758,000 with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Infection prevention and control, or IPC, is the practice of using practical, evidence-based strategies to stop or slow the spread of communicable infections, thus protecting the health of community members including patients and healthcare workers. Continue reading to learn more about the different ways NCUIH promotes IPC.
Project Achievements
Over the past five years (2020-2025), NCUIH led a transformative initiative to strengthen IPC capacity across UIOs nationwide. This project ranged from live webinar trainings, podcasts, downloadable materials (e.g., videos, graphics), in-person technical assistance, continuing education units, and more. This was achieved through partnerships and collaboration with the CDC, UIOs, various subject matter experts, external partners, and student fellows.
Key accomplishments from five years of Project Firstline at NCUIH include:
- 15 subawards disseminated to UIOs to help facilitate the development and/or enhancement of their IPC training programs.
- 33 live training courses were conducted, reaching 560+ attendees in total.
- Included four accredited trainings released with Continuing Medical Education (CME) and/or Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) credits, leading to the distribution of 24 total CMEs and 19 total CNEs.
- Urban Indian Health Care Education from NCUIH on-demand learning microsite launched on the AMA Ed Hub platform.
- 5 IPC courses were published and completed by 100+ users, over 12% of whom work at an Urban Indian Health Organization.
- 7 IPC podcast episodes of NCUIH Native Healthcast released, with 530+ total downloads.
- PhotoVoice project conducted with 5 participants across 5 UIOs to gain a better understanding of the day-to-day experiences of UIO healthcare workers around IPC. Publication of the findings for this project is pending.
- 6 IPC Student Fellowships completed.
- 2 IPC informational videos developed with Next Day Animations.
- 2 downloadable IPC resources created for UIOs, including an IPC Transportation Checklist and Hand Hygiene Reminder Infographic.
- On-site technical assistance was provided to one UIO, which included reviewing and providing feedback to the UIO’s IPC program.
- IPC Assistance Center published on NCUIH’s Technical Assistance Portal to serve as a hub for UIOs to access IPC resources and training materials, learn about Project Firstline events, ask questions, connect with other UIOs, and more
- Over 250 hours of Technical Assistance provided to UIOs over the project duration.
- Publications:
- Perceptions and Experiences of Frontline Urban Indian Organization Healthcare Workers With Infection Prevention and Control During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Healthcare Workers’ Perspectives on Infection Control in Urban Indian Health Systems: A Photovoice Project – Publication in Progress
- Continue exploring this website to learn more about these initiatives or access the training materials mentioned.
IPC Public Service Announcements
Cleaning and Disinfection PSA for Healthcare Frontline Workers
Hand Washing PSA For Healthcare Frontline Workers
Downloadable Resources
In an effort to make more culturally relevant material, the Project Firstline Team has created materials that Urban Indian Organizations can print and use in their facilities. The first is a graphic featuring a community health worker reminding our health care warriors to use appropriate PPE, practice hand hygiene, and clean high-touch surfaces. The other is a checklist that can be printed and used in transportation vehicles. We have provided several items that health care workers should consider before, during, and after patient transportation. We recommend laminating it or placing it in a plastic sheet protector. Click on the graphics below to download them.
Additional resources on cleaning and disinfection from the CDC:
How to Read a Disinfectant Label – infographic
Preventing Transmission of Viral Respiratory Pathogens – informational
Infection Control Measures for Respiratory Viruses – infographic
Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings – informational, includes education courses
Cleaning and Disinfecting in Community Settings – informational
UIO Highlight
IPC Champions
The following Urban Indian Organizations have participated as past or present infection prevention and control systems “Champions”, supported by NCUIH and the Centers for Disease and Control to address emerging and reemerging infectious disease outbreaks such as Covid-19 and influenza.
NCUIH Project Firstline – Fellows
The National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worked to provide Native American students with the opportunity to increase the work being done in urban Native public health. Project Firstline is a national partnership of nonprofit organizations and academic institutions that aims to provide infection prevention and control training to more than 6 million healthcare personnel in the United States, including Urban Indian Organization (UIO) healthcare workers. Training content include foundational information on infection control to protect the nation from infectious disease threats.
Antoinette Ascenio
Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians
Humboldt State University
Year 1
Haily Augustine
Diné
University of Washington
Year 1
Kaleigh Edwards
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma
Washington University, St. Louis
Year 1
Zoë Harris
Mashpee Wampanoag
University of Illinois, Chicago
Year 2
Daliyah Killsback
Northern Cheyenne and Assonet Band of Wampanoag
University of Chicago
Year 3
Breanna Wheeler
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
University of California, Berkeley
Year 3
Webinars & ECHOs
Click the links below to watch our recorded Webinar and ECHO series and learn more about Infection Prevention and Control!
Available topics:
- Addressing Emerging Infection Control Threats
- Risk Recognition and Reservoirs
- IPC Training Toolkit
- Outreach and Referral Settings
- Burnout & IPC
- Offsite and Virtual Care Settings
- Reinforcing IPC during Flu Season
- Behavioral Health Settings
- Primary Care Settings
You can also check out our CEU- and certificate-eligible trainings on the American Medical Association Ed Hub.
Incorporating Infection Control Micro-Learn Training Resource
NCUIH has released their new trainings series titled, “Incorporating Infection Control Micro-Learn Training Resource”. In these trainings, NCUIH partners with the CDC to provide an overview of Micro-Learn resources to help Urban Indian Organization (UIO) staff learn how they can incorporate these approachable trainings at their facility.
May 29, 2024
July 16, 2024
September 12, 2024
Addressing Blood Exposure
Join NCUIH for the first Incorporating Infection Control Micro-Learn Training Resources series presentation. Shay Drummond from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention will provide an overview of the micro-learn training suite from the CDC’s Project Firstline to frontline health care workers. Applying micro-learns and bite-sized training content can help improve staff engagement and knowledge retention. In addition to learning CDC core IPC practices related to bloodborne pathogens, participants will learn how to incorporate these training opportunities at their facility.
Presenter:
Shay L. Drummond, MPH, RN, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Preventionist Nurse Consultant and PFL ELC Team Lead, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Objectives:
- Explain the concepts and benefits of micro-learning relating to infection control.
- Increase awareness of available infection control micro-learn resources.
- Discuss and outline the bloodborne pathogens micro-learn, including incorporating it at Urban Indian Organizations.
- Summarize relevant CDC core IPC practices related to bloodborne pathogens.
NCUIH Native Healthcast
This is the National Council of Urban Indian Health’s (NCUIH) podcast platform which is promoting infection prevention and control education topics for our frontline warriors and healthcare team members through collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via Project Firstline.
IPC Assistance Center
Click here to go to the IPC Assistance Center.
The National Council of Urban Indian Health is now offering IPC assistance to UIOs:
With the IPC Assistance Center, you will be able to:
- Submit IPC cases to share your experiences and lessons learned
- Access IPC resources such as past webinars, template IPC training presentations, and more
- Discuss questions about real-time scenarios with other UIOs on the IPC forum
- Interact with and learn from our UIO champions (and learn how your UIO can apply in the future)
To learn more about this new resource, contact IPC@ncuih.org.
To sign up for the assistance center, use the QR code or this link.
