OEP Newsletter: November 15, 2002

November 15, 2002

In this issue:

Medical Reserve Corps Funding

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced 42 grants totaling $2 million that will be awarded to community—based organizations. The funds are to be used for building local Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units that will help communities prepare and respond in the event of a public health emergency. The Minneapolis Health Department, Hennepin County Health Department and Hennepin County Medical Center prepared a joint grant application for these funds in order to develop a Medical Reserve Corps. The joint application between Minneapolis and Hennepin was approved by DHHS and they will receive $50,000.00 a year for a three—year period. The following is a brief summary of the Medical Reserve Corps Program.

The local Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units are comprised of local citizens and volunteers, who are trained to respond to health crises. The volunteers’ responsibilities will include emergency response, logistical planning, records keeping, assisting in public health and awareness campaigns and public communications.

Each local MRC unit will be established, activated, and operated by the local community, in concert with established emergency response and public health systems. They will be an important additional resource to address health problems that a local community might incur because of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event. In addition, volunteers may help with local health campaigns such as immunizations health education and awareness in the community throughout the year.

The MRC initiative will provide the local organizational framework, including training, locally agreed procedures and processes, and partnership building among local organizations, including local government agencies, and non—governmental organizations (e.g., faith—based groups, hospitals, health professions organizations, the American Red Cross, academic institutions and others).

The MRC is led by the Office of the Surgeon General in the DHHS. For more information including, the MRC guidance document “Medical Reserve Corps—A Guide for Local Leaders,” information on training resources, and the monthly MRC newsletter please log onto www.medicalreservecorps.gov or call the Office of the Surgeon General at (301) 443–4000.

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Local Public Health Planning

On October 29, St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health and Hennepin County Public Health Department sponsored a joint training, “Public Health and Clinics”. The goals of the training were to develop an understanding of the medical and public health emergency preparedness system and identify roles and responsibilities of organizations and systems along the health care continuum during a metropolitan-wide health emergency. The training included presentations on public health emergency preparedness and the Metropolitan Hospital Compact, and the role of private practice physicians during a public health emergency.

The training also addressed the challenges that clinics face during a public health emergency. Two scenarios were presented. In the first scenario, large numbers of patients with flu-like symptoms begin to show up at community clinics. In the second scenario, the Minnesota Department of Health advises the metropolitan public health departments to begin mass antibiotic vaccination clinics. Specific questions asked at the end of each scenario helped to identify key issues for clinics such as; staffing, resources, response capacity, and personal protection for staff and patients.

The training was presented by Allain Hankey, Health Protection Division Manager of Hennepin County Community Health, Kim McCoy, Planning Specialist with St. Paul Ramsey Public Health, Ginny Baresch, Principal Planner with the Community Health Department Emergency Preparedness Unit, Mark Lappe, Director of Safety and Emergency Preparedness at Hennepin County Medical Center, Laura Dean, OB/GYN in private practice in Stillwater and David Miller, Vice President of Operations at United Hospital.

On November 8, Nicollet County conducted training in St. Peter, MN. The focus of the day was on how the community would respond to a public health emergency. Presentations included a CDC grant overview, public health disaster/disease investigation, the Minnesota Incident Management System, and a short scenario that addressed the community response to a pandemic flu outbreak. The training concluded with a summary of the challenges presented by a public health emergency and some suggestions on how to address these issues through a community planning process.

The following individuals presented the training: Karen Swenson, Nicollet County Public Health Preparedness Coordinator, Jan Forfang, Senior Epidemiologist MDH, Mary Rippke, Public Health Nurse Consultant MDH, Buddy Ferguson, Risk Communication Specialist MDH and Ed Leier, Assistant Director, Response and Logistics Division of Emergency Management.

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Local Public Health Planning

On October 29, St. Paul—Ramsey County Public Health and Hennepin County Public Health Department sponsored a joint training, “Public Health and Clinics”. The goals of the training were to develop an understanding of the medical and public health emergency preparedness system and identify roles and responsibilities of organizations and systems along the health care continuum during a metropolitan—wide health emergency. The training included presentations on public health emergency preparedness and the Metropolitan Hospital Compact, and the role of private practice physicians during a public health emergency.

The training also addressed the challenges that clinics face during a public health emergency. Two scenarios were presented. In the first scenario, large numbers of patients with flu—like symptoms begin to show up at community clinics. In the second scenario, the Minnesota Department of Health advises the metropolitan public health departments to begin mass antibiotic vaccination clinics. Specific questions asked at the end of each scenario helped to identify key issues for clinics such as; staffing, resources, response capacity, and personal protection for staff and patients.

The training was presented by Allain Hankey, Health Protection Division Manager of Hennepin County Community Health, Kim McCoy, Planning Specialist with St. Paul Ramsey Public Health, Ginny Baresch, Principal Planner with the Community Health Department Emergency Preparedness Unit, Mark Lappe, Director of Safety and Emergency Preparedness at Hennepin County Medical Center, Laura Dean, OB/GYN in private practice in Stillwater and David Miller, Vice President of Operations at United Hospital.

On November 8, Nicollet County conducted training in St. Peter, MN. The focus of the day was on how the community would respond to a public health emergency. Presentations included a CDC grant overview, public health disaster/disease investigation, the Minnesota Incident Management System, and a short scenario that addressed the community response to a pandemic flu outbreak. The training concluded with a summary of the challenges presented by a public health emergency and some suggestions on how to address these issues through a community planning process.

The following individuals presented the training: Karen Swenson, Nicollet County Public Health Preparedness Coordinator, Jan Forfang, Senior Epidemiologist MDH, Mary Rippke, Public Health Nurse Consultant MDH, Buddy Ferguson, Risk Communication Specialist MDH and Ed Leier, Assistant Director, Response and Logistics Division of Emergency Management.

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New HAN Funds

Minnesota has recently been awarded approximately $660,000 of additional Health Alert Network (HAN) funds. Approximately $181,000 will be used by the MDH to enhance and upgrade the HAN website. Approximately $478,110 will be distributed to Community Health Boards (CHBs). The local portion of funds will be split 91 ways, as HAN funds have been in the past, for a total of $5,307 per county/city.

The MDH will distribute these funds to CHBs by preparing an amendment to the current local public health preparedness project agreement. This amendment will list one additional responsibility related to HAN and the additional funding. The work will need to be completed by the end of the project agreement, which is August 31, 2003.

The new responsibility will be that local public health staff will meet with the county/city information technology staff to discuss the particular needs of public health (as distinct from roads and bridges and county assessors). The HAN Advisory Committee will help MDH staff craft the contract language for this responsibility. MDH will also work on developing a tool and some resource materials that hopefully will facilitate that discussion.

The MDH will keep you updated about the progress around this additional funding and will alert you when you will be receiving the amendment. .

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SCHSAC Local Public Health Preparedness/ Bioterrorism Review Group

The SCHSAC Local Public Health Preparedness/ Bioterrorism Review Group will meet on November 22, 2002. The charge to this group is to “Clarify the activities, outcomes, and reporting mechanism for the local Community Health Board bioterrorism grants so that local grantees and MDH are successful in meeting the benchmarks established by the CDC.”

The SCHSAC group is made up of local public health department staff and elected officials from across the state. Members include:

Jane Norbin, Chair: St. Paul—Ramsey County

Nita Aasen: Nicollet County

Ann Bajari: Meeker-McLeod-Sibley

Nancy Bauer: Becker-Mahnomen-Norman

Allain Hankey: Hennepin County

Anita Hoffmann: Brown County

Commissioner Ed Larsen: Crow Wing County

Brenda Menier: Polk County

Debra Jacobs: Wilkin County

Lowell Johnson: Washington County

Kerry Paarman: Blue Earth County

Carol Schefers/Don Mleziva: Wright County

Dale Schroeder: St. Louis County

Lynn Theurer/Jeff Peterson: Winona County

Brenda Waege: Fillmore County

Jane Norbin from St. Paul—Ramsey Public Health will chair the group. The first meeting will focus on planning and exercise activities.

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Smallpox Resources

With all of the CDC, and media, attention around smallpox, we wanted to remind you of some valuable resources on smallpox. The CDC has developed some excellent materials on smallpox that can be found at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/index.asp.

In addition, the MDH Bioterrorism Unit has a number of resources that you may find useful at MDH Bioterrorism.

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Updated Monday, 22-Nov-2010 09:12:05 CST