OVAR-GEC Emergency Preparedness e-News


*Inside This Issue:* Are You Ready? Its Coming - Pandemic Flu Free Crisis Counseling for Your Facility: Meet the KCCRB Flood Pictures From Louisville Generators - Emergency Use Recommendations on Emergency Planning Checklists Lessons Learned - Hurricanes in Texas Lessons Learned - Wind & Ice Storms in the Midwest

	Are You Ready? Its Coming - Pandemic Flu Extra Extra Extra Extra Extra See our Kentucky Preparedness for Aging Special Edition - Pandemic Flu Revisited for the latest news in facility preparedness & flu. See also our Kentucky Preparedness for Aging E-Newsletter Summer 2008 edition which was devoted solely to the discussion of Pandemic Flu.

	Concerns abound about the H1N1 Flu Strain as we approach the fall flu season. The Centers for Disease Control is issuing guidance and plans for federal, state and community response. See the CDC's main page for Pandemic Flus The CDC also offers guidiance on H1N1 Flu and Patients With Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease & Stroke)

	The American Health Lawyers Association has issued a new report, Community Pan-Flu Preparedness: A Checklist of Key Legal Issues for Healthcare Providers. Guidance for facilities incorporated in the report includes: Consent to Treat Isolation and Quarantine Altered Standards of Care and Avoiding Malpractice Liability Communication Issues Provider's relationship with Public Health and Emergency Management Privacy and Security of Protected Information Other State Regulatory Issues Ethical Considerations I a Pandemic Protecting Employees and Maintaining Operations Ensuring Adequate Supplies and Relationships with Vendors Health Plan Issues Special Considerations for Long Term Facilities asd

	The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation issued a report, Pandemic Flu: Lessons from the Frontlines in June 2009. The report provides observations from the H1N1 outbreak this summer and offers key lessons based on this response as well as 10 concerns arising from the response. Back To Top

Free Crisis Counseling for Your Facility - Meet the KCCRB

The Kentucky Community Crisis Response Board (KCCRB) offers a broad array of pre-incident preparedness, on-site assessment, and counseling services in the event of an disaster emergency. And these services are free!

Quick reference guide to KCCRB services

Generators - Emergency Use Proper use of generators was a frequent issue that arose during the wind and ice storms this past year. Some useful guidelines are available: Paul W. Benson, University of Illinois & LaVern E. Stetson, USDA-ARS - Safe Use of Emergency Generators United States Fire Administration (USFA) - Generators: Lessons Learned Back to Top		Emergency Checklists Every Health Facility Should See The American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) has published a number of very helpful reports, their Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery Checklist includes: Incident Command and the General Staff Areas Recovery Issues Risk-Management Considerations Securing Disaster Funding Selected Public Health Emergency Preparedness Standards and Plans Other checklist recommendations from: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) See checklists

Lessons Learned - Hurricanes in Texas We continue to find new reports of lessons learned from the hurricanes of 2005. The results of a study of 217 nursing and assisted living facilities that experienced Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were published in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Improvements to evacuation plans identified after evacuation included: Increase transportation options Earlier evacuation Involve families in the evacuation -- both residents and staff Work closely with local emergency management Provide better training to employees Improve relations with and response from the state regulatory/licensing agency Back to Top
Lessons Learned - Wind & Ice Storms in the Midwest Check annually with your local utility company to make sure your facility is still listed as a priority response facility. Meet with your county emergency manager face-to-face every six months as EM turnover is increasing and new EM managers may not be familiar with your facility. Review memorandum of agreement with other facilities, vendors on a regular basis. Check with vendors about their emergency plans. They often include options your organization may not consider available, e.g. food and dietary, pharmacy, laundry. Ham radios are recommended as communication back up when cell towers, land lines and satellite phones are out of commission during event. When water supply is not operable, some Long-Term Care facilities use large outdoor plastic containers as cisterns to capture rain water as non-potable water to use as back up water supply for toileting. In communicating with residents' families during an event, use one phone line for incoming calls and one phone line for outgoing calls. Power up cell phones regularly during an event. Some nursing homes allowed staff members' families and pets to stay at the facility during the worst of the ice storm to ensure sufficient staffing. Glad food storage containers proved very useful during the ice storm power outages as residents of independent living units on Long-Term Care campus' used the bottoms of the storage containers to hold ice (from inside the facility or outside from trees) and put insulin or other refrigerated medication in the top lid resting upside down on top of the bottom portion to keep chilled. Back to Top