On June 8, 2021 CHA distributed its final edition of CHA’s
Coronavirus Response. CHA will provide
regular updates related to the COVID-19 pandemic through its
twice-weekly newsletter, CHA News. Staff at member hospitals who
don’t currently receive CHA News may subscribe on the CHA website.
To address the challenges of managing disaster response and
recovery efforts as our nation enters the second year of the
novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, FEMA is releasing the
“COVID-19
Pandemic Operational Guidance: All-Hazards Incident Response and
Recovery” to help emergency managers and public
health officials best prepare for disasters, while continuing to
respond to and recover from COVID-19.
The coronavirus is changing all of our lives, and we are relying
on our health care system like never before. California’s
hospitals are working around the clock to care for patients and
prepare for a projected surge in patient volume. Many are taking
unprecedented measures to expand their ability to care for
current and anticipated COVID-19 cases, not to mention other
urgent health care needs.
To help support hospitals and health systems in their
efforts to prepare and care for patients COVID-19, CHA has
compiled the latest updates, guidance, and resources related
to the virus including webinar recordings, state and federal
actions, and other timely information for hospitals.
With resources at critically low levels across all regions of the
state, the nation, and worldwide, the best way to get supplies in
California is to request them through the Medical and Health
Operational Area Coordinator (MHOAC) Program.
A list of county MHOAC contacts is here,
and a reference guide for making requests — along with a chart
illustrating the flow of communication and resources
– is
here.
Instructions for requesting supplies through MHOAC — a process
that is tested annually with your hospital and disaster
coordinator during the November Statewide Medical and Health
Exercise — are below.
Hospital initiates the request to the MHOAC using a 213 Resource
Request (RR). Note: Even though hospitals often realize that
local, regional, and state caches may be empty, it is important
to continue submitting 213 RR requests to ensure the requests are
making it to CDC for potential fulfillment.
The MHOAC distributes any local supplies available.
If there are insufficient local/county supplies, the MHOAC
submits the hospital’s 213 RR to the Regional Disaster Medical
and Health Specialist to check for available supplies in the
region.
If there are insufficient supplies in the region, the Regional
Disaster Medical and Health Specialist submits the hospital’s 213
RR to the State Medical and Health Command Center, which is a
combined state command center of the Emergency Medical Services
Authority and the California Department of Public Health.
If there are insufficient state supplies, the Medical and Health
Command Center shares the requests with the State Operations
Center, which then — under the Governor’s emergency declaration —
makes a request from the Strategic National Stockpile and Vendor
Managed Inventory.
If you are using this process and not receiving a response
or the necessary resources you need, please contact Mary Massey,
vice president, emergency preparedness,
at mmassey@calhospital.org.
This Primer provides key information on the public health
emergency response to the COVID-19. The primer will provide
information & objective guidance (not legal advice) on emerging
issues of law and policy and serve as a quick briefing on core
legal preparedness and response issues
Pandemic events present multiple challenges to the health care
environment and the ability of the respiratory therapist to
provide mechanical ventilation to all persons in need.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Strategic
National Stockpile (SNS) is a repository of ventilators that
would be used to supplement the supply currently in use by the
nation’s acute care facilities. These ventilators can be
requested and allocated to areas of need in the event of a
pandemic.
ASPR TRACIE compiled and synthesized information from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local and state health
departments, and other open sources.
This response highlights resources for healthcare system
emergency preparedness planners to use while preparing for and
responding to infectious disease outbreaks with drive-through
clinic models.
Considerations and lessons learned from these materials are also
gathered and provided as points for consideration. ASPR TRACIE
reached out to members of its Subject Matter Expert Cadre for
information and will update this document with additional
operational resources and guidance documents as they become
available.
The Listen, Protect and Connect psychological first aid system
designed for families, neighbors, co-workers and first
responders. One version is an “all ages” family-to-family,
neighbor-to-neighbor version and two are specifically for
supporting children. One for parents and one just for teachers
and schools to use.
This approach suggests ways we all can support each other’s
resilience and coping before, during and after emergencies. The
approach builds on strengths and practices that families and
community already use and offer additional ideas and tools to
call upon in times of disaster.
A fact-sheet for parents and caregivers about infectious disease
outbreaks in your community. Knowing important information
about the outbreak and learning how to be prepared can reduce
stress and help calm likely anxieties.
This resource will help parents and caregivers think about how an
infectious disease outbreak might affect their family— both
physically and emotionally—and what they can do to help their
family cope.
Frequently Asked Questions about use of stockpiled N95 filtering
facepiece respirators for protection from COVID-19 beyond the
manufacturer-designated shelf life.
Note: this guidance is subject to change as
the situation evolves.
Solano County recorded the first U.S. case unrelated to
international travel, raising fears of a local outbreak — and
California hospitals are bracing for the possibility of large
numbers of coronavirus patients at a time many are already
stretched thin because of the flu season.
The 2017 update to the HHS Pandemic Influenza Plan aims to
highlight and build upon successes of the last decade,
making clear additional efforts needed to improve pandemic
preparedness. These efforts are described in the seven domains
that form the basis for the 2017 update.
Developed by the CHA Hospital Preparedness
Program, this checklist is intended to be used as one of
several tools to assist in preparation for Seasonal Influenza and
Pandemic.
The checklist recommendations are general in nature with a
purpose of prompting review and action. Public health is the lead
agency during these events, and every effort should be made to
remain up-to-date with rapidly changing local, state, and federal
guidance and regulations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely
monitoring an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel
(new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China.
Chinese authorities identified the new coronavirus, which has
resulted in thousands of confirmed cases in China, including
cases outside Wuhan City. Additional cases have been identified
in a growing number of other international locations,
including the United States.
Resources for healthcare providers on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus,
or 2019-nCoV, the new respiratory virus that was identified in
Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China in late 2019.
