Free course offers contact tracer training
Moraine Valley’s online class has been extended through the early fall
With COVID-19 cases and related deaths rising rapidly throughout the country, and with Illinois trying to hold the line, a course at Moraine Valley Community College has been extended for those who want to join the fight against the virus.
The free online course covers the essentials of contact tracing and is available through early fall.
The course spans about four hours, but students have up to one week to complete it while working at their own pace. Content covers the role and responsibilities of contact tracers in controlling the spread of the virus, the nature of the disease and its symptoms, the role of testing, and tracer communication guidelines.
Besides saving lives by preventing COVID cases, contact tracers help to keep the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed, which also can save lives of healthcare workers.
No one knows this better than MVCC assistant professor of nursing Judith Corcoran, a registered nurse who in a matter of weeks developed the contact tracer course.
For 23 years, Corcoran worked as a critical care nurse and emergency room nurse at Chicago area hospitals, including Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn. Her husband and daughter also work in the healthcare field.
“Each day I was thinking of them going back into the thick of it,” Corcoran said. “I was teaching from home and was glad to do something more to help in fighting this pandemic.”
For course content, Corcoran drew from guidelines provided by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization. She also relied on Moraine Valley’s library and coordinated with the college’s Center for Learning and Teaching.
“As I was doing this, I had to make revisions because things are changing all the time, so little is known about the disease,” she said. The course is now periodically updated, using CDC and WHO as primary references.
Moraine Valley posted the first online contact tracer class June 29 and had scheduled additional sessions through July. The college recently opted to extend the course’s availability through early fall.
“Thus far, there’s been a lot of demand and should that increase, we will certainly add additional sections,” said Steve Pappageorge, executive director of corporate, community and continuing education for Moraine Valley. He spearheaded creation of the course. “We want the public to take advantage of the course, learn more about COVID and decide for themselves if a job as a contact tracer is right for them.”
Strong communications skills and a desire to help people are important attributes for contact tracers.
“Beyond simply identifying who the contacts may be, a contact tracer is involved in educating on why quarantine is so important after exposure and how to keep those around you safe,” Corcoran said. “Naturally, there will be lots of questions.
Contract tracers may not have all the answers, but they will have the resources to help find the answers.”
Tracers work from home, but the job requires interacting with a variety of people. Being bilingual or having worked in healthcare settings are considered desirable strengths, Corcoran said. A high school diploma or GED is required. As with any health professional, contact tracers must respect personal privacy and not divulge health or medical information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA.
Ultimately, local health departments and companies that employ contact tracers provide additional training and software for encrypting case information and keeping it safe.
Those who complete the course receive a certificate from Moraine Valley. Listing the course on a resume won’t guarantee employment but it can improve chances of getting hired, Corcoran said.