A team of students from the University of Washington School of Public Health will is poised to act when the next disease outbreak hits the Seattle area.

The Student Epidemic Action Leaders (SEAL) team – an acronym inspired by the blubbery Northwest mammal, not the Navy – will be trained in a new course offered this spring by the Department of Epidemiology. While gaining practical skills, students will also be providing service to the community, said instructor Janet Baseman, who came up with the idea.