OEP Newsletter: June 22, 2004

June 22, 2004

In this issue:

NEW AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY ( AHRQ) EVIDENCE REPORT HELPS HOSPITALS RESPOND TO BIOTERRORISM OR OTHER PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES

As part of its public health and emergency preparedness portfolio, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released the new evidence report, Training of Hospital Staff to Respond to a Mass Casualty Incident. Developed by AHRQ's Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center in Baltimore, the new report is a follow-up to a 2002 report entitled Training of Clinicians for Public Health Events Relevant to Bioterrorism Preparedness. It identifies key elements to be used in evaluating hospital disaster drills. The new evidence report provided the science behind another recently released AHRQ tool entitled Evaluation of Hospital Disaster Drills: A Module-Based Approach.

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MASS ANTIBIOTIC DISPENSING: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION PUBLIC HEALTH TRAINING NETWORK BROADCAST AND WEBCAST

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is offering training on mass antibiotic dispensing. Details about the program and how to access the training are listed below. Please note that Luanne McNichols, MDH Bioterrorism Clinical Coordinator, is a presenter for the training program.

Goal:

To provide an overview of a critical and complex aspect of SNS plans and mass antibiotic dispensing.

Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the program, participants will be able to describe:

* What the SNS program does in the event of a deployment.
* Key factors used in determining the points of dispensing (PODs).
* Critical POD planning considerations that impact dispensing operations.
* Three ways a public information and communications (PIC) campaign impacts dispensing operations.

When : Thursday, June 24, 2004 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

Target Audience :

This broadcast is designed for the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) local and state planners.

Faculty:

  • Curtis Mast, MS, Exercise Coordinator, Strategic National Stockpile Program, CDC
  • Eileen Malatino, BSN, Health Scientist, Strategic National Stockpile Program, CDC
  • Nathaniel Hupert, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Medicine, Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
  • Ruth Thornburg, MA, MS Public Information/Communication, Strategic National Stockpile Program, CDC
  • LuAnne McNichols, BSN, MN, BT Clinical Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Health

Registration and Continuing Education Information :

Site registration and participant registration will only be available through the CDC/ATSDR Training and Continuing Education Online.

Site Registration is now open. Site Administrators/Facilitators please register downlink facilities in order to allow viewers to locate a viewing site. Participant Registration and Evaluation Participants are encouraged but not required to register and evaluate the broadcast/web cast. Registration and evaluation will provide valuable feedback to CDC. Continuing education credit will be offered for a variety of professionals, based on 1.5 hours of instruction. A certificate of credit or a certificate of attendance will be awarded to participants who complete the evaluation. Participants will have from June 10, 2004 to July 26, 2004 to register and evaluate the live broadcast/web cast. Web on Demand (WD0046) and Videotape Course (VC0071) registration and evaluation will begin on July 27, 2004.

Course numbers are listed below:
Satellite Broadcast - SB0158
Web cast - WC0058
Web-on-demand - WD0046
Videotape - VC0071
Individuals who have questions about registration should call 1-800-41-TRAIN or email ce@cdc.gov.

Satellite Broadcast Technical Specifications:

This broadcast will be offered on C-and Ku band. For a fax copy of this fact sheet, contact the CDC Fax Information System at 888-232-3299 (or 877-232-1010 for the hearing impaired). When prompted, enter the document number 130030 and a return fax number. Note: This broadcast will be closed-captioned.

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MENTAL HEALTH: EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANNING

The Minnesota Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Metro Region newsletter has an article about Minnesota mental health emergency preparedness planning in the June 2004 edition as its lead story.

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PERSONAL AND FAMILY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Large scale emergency preparedness planning is the focus of our daily work. In doing so, we spend so much time planning to take care of an event or things at the state and local level that we tend to forget to take care of our families and ourselves. The Red Cross has a comprehensive emergency preparedness kit that does the planning work for you.

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THE CITIES READINESS INITIATIVE (CRI)

The Cities Readiness Initiative is a pilot program to aid cities in increasing their capacity to deliver medicines and medical supplies during a large-scale public health emergency such as a bioterrorism attack or a nuclear accident.

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepared a fact sheet on the Cities Readiness Initiative, (CRI): Key Facts about the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI).

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DRYVAX LICENSE EXTENSION

In response to the many requests sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC) for information about the Dryvax license extension letters, the CDC has posted the extension letters on the CDC BT/smallpox website for your convenience. The links to the specific sites are posted below. In the review, the CDC made every attempt to cover all the vaccine lot numbers that have been distributed, but if there are any that were missed, please contact the CDC at Tel: 404-639-3311.

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MDH AND MDA HOLD FOOD EMERGENCY PLANNING WORKSHOP

On May 26, 2004 the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture sponsored a workshop entitled “Identifying the Gaps in Food Emergency Response Plans.” The workshop brought state and local government partners together to start identifying the gaps in Minnesota’s emergency preparedness efforts for protecting our food system. Approximately 120 food inspection or “front line” staff and their managers attended the daylong event.

Using a variety of presentations, brainstorming exercises and table top scenarios, participants:

  • Increased their awareness for a food emergency response plan, including stating their city or county staff roles;
  • Identified regional partners for developing surge capacity;
  • Identified gaps in planning materials and knowledge; and
  • Identified basic channels of emergency communication.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety mobile command center was also available for a tour by participants. Everyone received a compact disk containing information on a variety of food safety and security topics.

Initial comments from participants:

“I loved yesterday's workshop.  You and your staff and MDA did a wonderful job. The CD is great as well. I need to make one up for my office to be better prepared.”

“Great job on the workshop. It was not only well organized, but very well organized along with informative with great outcomes to enhance existing response plans.  The workshop definitely met it's objective, that is identifying gaps.  I was impressed with the group's attention, focus and discussions. It's encouraging to see progressive ideas put into action for the benefit of public health.  The whole planning team that put this together did a fabulous job.” 

The Planning Committee included: Angela McGovern, Cathy Hockert (CHD), Colleen Paulus, Dave Read (MDA), David Jones, Deb Grundmanis, Debra Ehret (CHD), Gary Edwards, Heidi Kassenborg (MDA), Karen Swenson (Brown/Nicollet County), Kathleen Lilly, Kirk Smith (IDPC), Laurel Briske (CHD), and Paul Allwood.

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE

"Responding to Incidents of National Consequence: Recommendations for America's Fire and Emergency Services Based on the Events of September 11, 2001, and Other Similar Incidents." FEMA. May 2004 (PDF:120 pages)

The report provides guidance to fire departments and emergency services across America on how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from major multi-jurisdictional local incidents that have national consequences and may involve national resources. The issues and recommendations in this report were identified in various after-action reports and interviews with the leaders of the organizations that responded to, participated in and managed these events.

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MDH COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH’S TERRORISM AND HEALTH TASK FORCE

Just a reminder to save August 10, 2004 for the Commissioner of Health’s Terrorism and Health Task Force meeting. The task force meets from 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the MDH Snelling Office Park located at 1645 Energy Park Drive, St. Paul, MN. If you plan on attending the meeting please contact Tina Firkus at 651-296-0047 or by email at: tina.firkus@state.mn.us

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Updated Monday, 22-Nov-2010 09:12:10 CST