Welcome to Project Firstline
A partnership between Iowa HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Project Firstline provides infection control education for all frontline healthcare workers — so they can better protect their patients, their coworkers and themselves from infectious disease threats in healthcare.
Learn more about the CDC’s Project Firstline and find the latest featured resources.
Job Aids & Print Materials
“One and Done” is a best practice in limiting the spread of healthcare-related infections — with routine use, one person uses PPE one time for one patient encounter, then discards or fully cleans the equipment, as directed.
Educate healthcare workers and keep infection control top-of-mind:
- One and Done Brochure – English | Spanish
- One and Done Poster – English | Spanish
- One and Done Video (English)
- One and Done Video (Spanish)
How to Order Printed Materials
Printed materials are available at no charge by completing and submitting the
Iowa HHS Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology materials order form.
In collaboration with Iowa HHS, CDC’s Project Firstline and the National
Training Collaborative for Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control, the
Iowa Institute of Public Health Research and Policy at the University of Iowa is making available a series of educational posters and videos to promote proper
infection control practices.
Use these materials to educate everyone entering a healthcare facility,
regardless of their role, relationship to a patient or if they do or do not provide
direct patient care.
Posters
- Hand Hygiene Poster – English | Spanish
- Surface to People Poster – English | Spanish
- Respiratory Droplets Poster – English | Spanish
- Asymptomatic Spread Poster – English | Spanish
- Source Control Poster – English | Spanish
How to Order Printed Materials
Printed materials are available at no charge by completing and submitting the Iowa HHS Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology materials order form.
Videos
Project Firstline online and sharable resources help educate and keep infection control a priority for everyone in your healthcare facility.
Training Resources
Lead infection control training for healthcare workers with engaging, easy-to-use educational resources — available in a variety of formats to support all styles of learning.
Perfect for team meetings and huddles, this series of guided discussions and job aids help healthcare workers recognize risks and take action to stop the spread of germs.
- "If You See Blood," Micro-Learn, CDC
- “When You See Diarrhea,” Micro-Learn, CDC
- “Patient with Cough and Congestion,” Micro-Learn, CDC
- “Patient with a Rash,” Micro-Learn, CDC
- “Patient with a Draining Wound,” Micro-Learn, CDC
Find more information about micro learnings on the CDC’s Project Firstline website.
Project Firstline Toolkits: 10-, 20- and 60-Minute Trainings
Train in the way that works best for your team’s learning styles and busy schedules. Toolkits for a variety of infection control topics include easy-to-follow PowerPoint presentations in 10, 20 and 60-minute formats, with facilitator and participant resources to help you along the way.
Toolkit topics include:
- The Concept of Infection Control
- The Basic Science of Viruses
- How Viruses Spread from Surfaces to People
- Multi-Dose Vials
- Virus Strains
- Source Control
- Ventilation
And more
Find more information about training toolkits on the CDC’s Project Firstline website.
Infection Control Toolkits: Live, Web-Based Sessions
Facilitator and participant resources help you lead healthcare workers in learning to recognize infection risks throughout their day by teaching where germs live and how they spread.
Toolkits include three sessions, with a session plan, PowerPoint presentation and participant booklet to go with each.
- Recognizing Risk Using Reservoirs
- Introduction to Reservoirs: Where Germs Live
Find more information about infection control toolkits on the CDC’s Project Firstline website.
The below infection prevention and control-related training webinars can also be found on the Iowa HHS YouTube channel.
- Application of Outpatient Antimicrobial Stewardship Principles to Commonly Encountered Pediatric Outpatient Infections Webinar
- Appropriateness of Antibiotics for Infections in Long Term Care Webinar
- Best Practices: Animals in a Healthcare Setting Webinar
- Best Practices: Home Care Settings Webinar
- Best Practices: Supplemental Disinfection Techniques Webinar
- Curb the Spread: Candida auris Webinar
- Effective Communication Strategies to Improve Antibiotic Prescribing Webinar
- Enhanced Barrier Precautions 101 Webinar
- Environmental Services Personnel Webinar
- Food Services Personnel Webinar
- Hand Hygiene Basics Webinar
- How to Find and Select a Surface Disinfectant and Audit for Appropriate Use Webinar
- Implementing Key Strategies for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Nursing Homes Webinar
- Infection Prevention and Control Precautions Webinar
- Joint Commission Compliance with Water Management Plans Webinar
- Microbiology webinar
- Optimizing Antibiotic Therapy in Long Term Care Webinar
- Optimizing Dental Antibiotic Prophylaxis Guideline Adherence and Patient Safety Webinar
- Practices in a Dialysis Setting Webinar
- Reassessing Penicillin Allergy Ensuring Safe and Effective Antibiotic Treatment Webinar
- Safe Injection Practices Webinar
- Sepsis Webinar
- Urinary Tract Infections in Nursing Homes Webinar
- Working with Patients in Isolation Webinar
Earn continuing education credits (CME, CNE, CPE) on-demand with Project Firstline infection prevention control (IPC) trainings.
IPC Courses Available – COMING SOON
Visit the CDC's Project Firstline website to learn more about:
- The latest educational videos on various infection control topics.
- The “Inside Infection Control” series, covering basic ideas behind infection control, how they work to prevent COVID-19, and how using infection control actions while you’re at work can protect you, your patients, your coworkers and your community.
- How to earn continuing education through the CDC’s Training and Continuing Education Online (TCEO).
Infórmese sobre el control de infecciones en la atención médica aquí.
OVERVIEW
(Iowa and ECRI to provide description on series here?)
Note the individual descriptions and learning objectives would go elsewhere
Available credit:
1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
1.00 California State Nursing Contact Hours
Course opens: 01/01/2024
Course expires: 12/31/2026
Please check each program for exact credit awards
TARGET AUDIENCE
Frontline healthcare workers with a focus on those who interact in any capacity with persons seeking healthcare, including physicians, nurses, patient care technicians, and non-clinical staff.
FACULTY AND DISCLOSURE
Disclosure Policy: In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, ECRI is required to disclose relevant financial relationships of the planners, teachers, authors, and reviewers involved in the development and delivery of CME content. Individuals need to disclose those relationships with an ineligible company if both the relationship is financial and occurred within the past 24 months, and the individual has the opportunity to affect the content of CME about the products or services of that ineligible company.
An ineligible company as defined by the ACCME is "any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.”
Policy on Privacy and Confidentiality: ECRI policy requires that the privacy and confidentiality of all information related to CME activities will be strictly maintained. This includes all on-line internet CME courses.
The following served as planners, content developers, and reviewers, and have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose:
- Margaret Miller, BS, MT (ASCP)M, CIC, FAPIC, Infection Preventionist, ECRI
- James Davis, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, CIC, HEM. FAPIC, Manager, Infection Prevention and Control Services, ECRI
- Eileen Cornish, ECRI
- Leah Addis, MA, CPASRM, ECRI
- Pamela Keating, Esq., Associate Director, Education, ECRI
Method of Participation: This course consists of online activities including readings with text-associated learning objectives. At the conclusion of each section/topic, learners will be presented with questions to evaluate their understanding of the core concepts presented; questions must be answered correctly in order to move to the next section/topic and complete the course. Once the course is completed, you will be instructed to download a certificate/will appear etc.
A post-activity survey must also be completed for you to qualify for the corresponding credit.
Estimated time to complete activity: 1.00 hours
Contact Information: You can reach LMS web support at (Iowa to define)
And the author of the material used to develop this course at 610- 825-6000.
AVAILABLE CREDIT:
1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
CME Accreditation Statement: ECRI is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement: ECRI designates this Enduring Material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.
Please note exceptions to this can be found in the Infection Prevention and Control for Food Services Personnel
1.00 California State Nursing Contact Hours
California State Nursing Contact hours: This activity has been approved for up to 1.00 California State Nursing Contact Hours by the Provider, Debora Simmons, who is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP 13677. The certificate must be retained by the licensee for a period of four years after completion of the course.
This course reviews basic concepts and practices to assist Iowa’s frontline healthcare workers in understanding their roles in infection and prevention at their facilities in order to decrease the spread of infection, causing harm to patients, coworkers, and themselves.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the importance of infection prevention and control in healthcare
- Recognize where germs live and how they make people sick
- Describe ways to protect patients and healthcare workers from germs
- Identify appropriate personal protect equipment use, and hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette practices
- Compare techniques for cleaning and disinfection in healthcare settings
This course reviews basic concepts and practices to assist Iowa’s environmental service workers in understanding their roles in infection and prevention at their facilities in order to decrease the spread of infection, causing harm to patients, coworkers, and themselves.
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the unique role of environmental services personnel in healthcare.
- Describe environmental cleaning or disinfection best practices.
- Explain the process for selecting a disinfectant for a targeted pathogen.
- Recognize the importance of environmental rounding and auditing for quality.
- Examine the safe use of ultraviolet light (UV-C) and hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) technologies for supplemental surface disinfection.
This course reviews basic concepts and practices to assist Iowa’s emergency medical services (EMS) workers in understanding their roles in infection and prevention in their vehicles and at their facilities in order to decrease the spread of infection, causing harm to patients, coworkers, and themselves.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify bloodborne pathogens of concern for EMS providers in the field.
- Define basic infection prevention and control practices.
- Explain airborne pathogens, transmission, and precautions in the field.
- Identify cleaning and disinfection for reusable medical equipment and surfaces.
- Describe cleaning and disinfection of the EMS vehicle.
This course reviews basic concepts and practices to assist Iowa’s pharmacy personnel in understanding their roles in infection and prevention at their facilities in order to decrease the spread of infection, causing harm to patients, coworkers, and themselves.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify the role of pharmacists in infection prevention and control
- Describe basic infection prevention and control practices, including Standard Precautions, for pharmacy personnel
- Discuss three routes of medication and solution contamination
- Recall United States Pharmacopeia (USP) practices for sterile and non-sterile compounding of pharmacy preparations
- Explain how to determine an appropriate disinfectant and the importance of surface cleaning and disinfection in the pharmacy
This course reviews basic concepts and practices to assist Iowa’s home healthcare personnel in understanding their roles in infection and prevention in order to decrease the spread of infection, causing harm to patients, coworkers, and themselves.
Learning Objectives:
- Outline basic principles of infection prevention and control for home healthcare personnel
- Discuss Standard Precautions in the home healthcare setting
- Review strategies to prevent the spread of infections in the home healthcare setting
- Describe ways to keep the home healthcare worker healthy
This course reviews basic concepts and practices to assist Iowa’s therapy personnel in understanding their roles in infection and prevention in order to decrease the spread of infection, causing harm to patients, coworkers, and themselves.
Learning Objectives:
- Review basic principles of infection prevention and control for therapy personnel
- Discuss Standard and Transmission-Based precautions in a therapy setting
- Review strategies to prevent the spread of infections in a therapy setting
- Describe risks of poorly maintained patient care surfaces and pathogen cross contamination in therapy settings
- Discuss water management for hydrotherapy
This course provides an overview of the importance of food safety vigilance, which is more demanding than ever because germs are evolving and becoming more widespread. Foodborne illnesses occur when food is mishandled or improperly stored, so understanding how to properly handle and prepare food and nutrition products is vital for food services personnel.
Learning Objectives:
- Review basic principles of infection prevention and control for food services personnel.
- Discuss strategies to prevent the spread of infections in a dietary setting through proper receiving, storage, safe preparation, and handling of food.
- Explain food safety risks to patients, residents, and staff in healthcare facilities.
- Detail the importance of surface cleaning, sanitizing, and equipment maintenance.
- Describe how to manage ill food services staff and promote wellness.
This course provides an overview of the unique infection threats that are present during point-of-care testing and describes strategies to prevent such infections. Proper infection prevention strategies need to be in place for testing areas to ensure the validity of rapid turnaround of test, ultimately assisting in appropriate diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify bloodborne pathogens of concern.
- Explain the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.
- Define unique infection threats when performing point-of-care testing.
- Explain the basic principles of Standard Precautions that apply to point-of-care testing.
- Describe how to prevent infections while performing point-of-care testing.
Everyone has a role to play in preventing healthcare-associated infections. Office receptionists to administrative personnel can come in contact with persons who may have an infectious disease. Understanding their roles and the basic principles of infection prevention and control can assist in the spread of germs throughout healthcare facilities.
Learning Objectives:
- Review basic principles of infection prevention and control for non-clinical personnel.
- Discuss patient pre-screening and in-person screening at medical office sites.
- Describe strategies to isolate and cohort patients in an outpatient setting.
- Review optimal patient flow patterns and common area design.
- Discuss the importance of employee wellness, situational awareness, and reporting.
Consultative Services from Iowa HHS
Iowa HHS healthcare-associated infection (HAI) experts provide the latest education, evaluation and planning resources to help hospitals and other healthcare facilities improve infection control programs. View the full list of services.
Services are consultative — not regulatory or punitive — and always free of charge. To ask questions or schedule a service, email hai-ar@idph.iowa.gov.
Office Hours
Each month, two 30-minute virtual open office hours are offered — one for providers working in long-term care (nursing home) settings and one for providers working in acute care (hospital) settings. These informal sessions allow time to ask questions, request information and receive guidance.
Guest Lectures
Presentations are available on a variety of learning topics, from Iowa HHS HAI experts to help students and future healthcare professionals learn about HAI risks and how to prevent them. Learn more.
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