A joint effort by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of
Labor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; this
Guidance is for safe handling of solid waste contaminated
with a Category A infectious substance and the proper management
of inactivated Category A waste materials in the United States.
Terrorist attacks have a profound emotional and physical effect
on a community. While preventing these attacks would
be preferred, agencies must work swiftly and cohesively to
improve patient outcome when an attack does occur.
Read full discussion paper.
This FEMA InfoGram shares information on seismic activity around
the “ring of fire”, law enforcement uses for unmanned aircraft
systems (UAS aka drones), DHS accepting applications for Fellows,
and details for Zika Virus webinar. Read
the full InfoGram.
(TNS) – When “The Big One” hits in Western Washington, we’re
likely to feel it in the Inland Northwest, but it might seem like
nothing more than the shaking from a large truck rumbling
past.
And rumbling past. And rumbling past.
Particularly on upper floors of multistory buildings, water in a
glass might vibrate. Planters hanging from hooks might swing.
Dishes in a cabinet might rattle.
Last week, the Department of Health and Human
Services HHS launched an online
collection of federal resources available to mitigate
the health impacts of emergencies. Topics range from patient
movement and hospital care to situational awareness and
decontamination, with resources ranging from mapping tools and
consultation services to personnel. The compendium is
intended to support communities in emergency situations by
helping them identify and access available resources.
Health care organizations play a key role in community
resilience. Increasing incidents of extreme weather represent
complex hazards that challenge accepted baseline assumptions for
infrastructure capabilities, redundancies, and disaster
preparedness and response. Climate change, by increasing the
intensity and frequency of some extreme weather events, is
introducing new levels of extreme weather threats and forcing a
need for new building design thresholds.
In the devastation that follows a major disaster, there is a need
for multiple sectors to unite and devote new resources to support
the rebuilding of infrastructure, the provision of health and
social services, the restoration of care delivery systems, and
other critical recovery needs. In some cases, billions of dollars
from public, private and charitable sources are invested to help
communities recover. National rhetoric often characterizes these
efforts as a “return to normal.” But for many American
communities, pre-disaster conditions are far from optimal. Large
segments of the U.S. population suffer from preventable health
problems, experience inequitable access to services, and rely on
overburdened health systems. A return to pre-event conditions in
such cases may be short-sighted given the high costs—both
economic and social—of poor health. Instead, it is important to
understand that the disaster recovery process offers a series of
unique and valuable opportunities to improve on the status quo.
Capitalizing on these opportunities can advance the long-term
health, resilience, and sustainability of communities—thereby
better preparing them for future challenges. With support from
the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and
Response (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), the
Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development), the Veterans Health
Administration (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), and the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Institute of Medicine (IOM)
convened an expert committee to develop an approach to disaster
recovery that mitigates disaster impacts on health and
promotes healthy communities.
The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) issues the Ready or
Not? report annually to provide the public and policymakers
with an independent analysis about progress and
vulnerabilities in the nation’s public health preparedness.
The report assesses the level of preparedness
in states, evaluates the federal government’s role and
performance, and offers recommendations for improving
emergency preparedness.
This report also aims to foster greater accountability for
how effectively taxpayer dollars are used to improve the
nation’s readiness for health emergencies. Without
transparency, it is hard for the policymakers to assess how
well prepared we are for the range of threats
our nation faces.
The report:
Informs policymakers about the status of public health
preparedness in the United States;
Provides greater transparency for public health
preparedness programs;
Encourages greater accountability for the spending of
preparedness funds;
Recommends ways to help the nation move toward a
strategic, capabilities-based system able to respond
effectively to health threats posed by diseases, disasters
and bioterrorism
The Hospital Board’s Role in Disaster Readiness: Preparing for
the Worst, Leading with the Best
Hospitals continue to fine-tune how their local disaster
readiness plans and further detail how they will work with
regional teams when disaster strikes. Although the hospital board
of trustees is not responsible for the development and
implementation of the hospital’s disater plan, it is
the board’s fiduciary responsibility to ensure that a clear
plan is in place and that the funding and resources necessary to
carry out the plan are available.
Particular aspects of emergency care for children may be
especially difficult for rural hospitals to meet as they often
have less access to pediatric and emergency medicine trained
physicians.
The attached study “Pediatric Care in Rural Hospital Emergency
Departments”, was compiled using data analysis which
compared rural and urban hospitals’ responses on various
dimensions of pediatric ED care:
Materials related to the April 28, 2009 teleconference which was
facilitated and sponsored by CDC’s Public Health Law
Program and the Coordinating Office of Terrorism Preparedness and
Emergency Response.
