Pandemic Influenza: Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions versus School Closure

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: M106/107

Interactive

Session Number: 114

Pandemic influenza poses a substantial threat. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) may be the only response available in the initial phase of a pandemic as effective vaccines may not be available, and anti-viral medications may also be in limited supply. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended numerous NPI options in response to pandemic influenza. School closure is one that may create significant societal and personal disruptions and multilayered interventions involving infection control measures and behavioral changes are another. Participants will explore and evaluate both strategies and will also play the pandemic flu school closure game to simulate a school closure.

Medical Reserve Corps: The Basics of Collaborating for Community Resiliency

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: M301

Interactive

Session Number: 122

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of local groups of volunteers committed to improving the health, safety, and resiliency of their communities. This session will outline the mission, goals, and status of the MRC. Participants will learn about ways that communities can establish and sustain an MRC unit, partner with community stakeholders, and leverage resources.

Improving Planning through Consequential Public Engagement

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International 2

Interactive

Session Number: 152

Consequential public engagement is a method of involving a community in public health decision-making. The process can be utilized to enhance public health emergency planning, especially related to planning for a pandemic influenza. Participants will be introduced to the process of consequential public engagement and considerations necessary for utilizing the process for emergency planning purposes. In 2008-2009, the Ohio State University's Center for Public Health Practice led two large-scale public engagement projects in Ohio. The work from these two projects will be used as models for applying the public engagement process in other areas. Audience-based response devices will be used to illustrate how technology can facilitate the process as well.

Using Capability Assessment and Gap Analysis for Public Health Emergency Planning

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: A602

Interactive

Session Number: 167

This session examines the use of capability assessment and gap analysis processes to drive comprehensive public health emergency planning initiatives. Attendees will gain a better understanding of the importance of incorporating capability assessment and gap analysis into their planning activities, whether to support strategic decision-making or to help develop operational response plans. The session includes a review of existing capability assessment tools and mechanisms for customizing those tools to support different planning objectives. This session will provide practical guidance on how to implement these processes and gain stakeholder buy-in. Attendees can use this information to promote more effective, inter-disciplinary planning communities.

Interface with Emergency Support Function #8 in Rural Oklahoma

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International 4/5

Interactive

Session Number: 178

Managing both public health and medical systems during an incident falls within the scope of an Emergency Support Function #8 representative for state and federal levels. However, many rural areas simply do not have enough trained and qualified personnel to maintain staff three tier-deep for all of the Emergency Support Functions. This two-hour course will provide insight into how rural Oklahoma has met this Public Health and Medical System challenge by creating Annex H Representatives. In the Annex H program, selected individuals are trained in 3 separate phases to understand the Public Health role during mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery functions within their community.

Laboratory, Public Health Investigation and Surveillance Performance Measures for CDC's PHEP Cooperative Agreement

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: A706/707

Interactive

Session Number: 207

Since 2002, CDC's Division of State and Local Readiness (DSLR) has awarded over $7 billion to 62 states, territories, and localities through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement. The Outcome Monitoring and Evaluation Branch in DSLR recently developed several "biosurveillance" performance measures related to laboratory services, surveillance and public health investigations. This session will provide an opportunity for CDC to present an overview of these measures, including measurement specifications and metrics, rationale, reporting criteria and data elements. In addition, CDC will discuss the utility and feasibility of collecting and reporting measures data, and will solicit input for strategies for effective pilot testing and program implementation.

Reality Is the Best Exercise: Using the Incident Command Structure in H1N1 Response

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International 10

Interactive

Session Number: 241

The spring 2009 H1N1 experience may have been a perfect size for learning, but local health departments have likely had varying degrees of success with the Incident Command System (ICS) application to H1N1 response. A team of public health emergency management staff will feature shared ICS charts for spring and fall, a detailed description of a functioning public health command center, and how a head start improved response for fall. The interactive session will discuss participants’ experiences with use of ICS structure for H1N1, what worked and what did not, how it varied by size of health department, and mid-course revisions they have implemented in its application. The objective of this session is to improve public health’s capacity for response to outbreaks using the ICS structure.

Creating "Islands of Safety" by Enhancing Neighborhood-Level Disaster Planning

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International 3

Interactive

Session Number: 299

Although a great deal of progress has been made in community-level disaster planning, much remains to be done. In this session, the presenters will describe cross-sector collaborations between city emergency management, community health centers, community emergency response programs, and other community entities to enhance local preparedness efforts.

Increasing Resilience of Community-Based Organization Service Providers through Application of Preparedness Standards

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: M302/303

Interactive

Session Number: 336

THIS SESSION HAS BEEN CANCELED

Community-based organizations (CBO) providing essential social services for vulnerable populations play a critical role in caring for them during disaster response and recovery. No systematic framework currently exists to evaluate and assess their capability to perform these functions after disasters. In 2008, Fritz Institute’s Bay Area Preparedness Initiative joined with California Volunteers to initiate a series of discussions to develop a standard of preparedness and resilience for the CBO sector. This presentation will report on the development of the draft standards and their adoption in California.

Hello, May I Help You?: Operating a Public Health Call Center During H1N1

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International 8/9

Interactive

Session Number: 346

Local health departments (LHDs) are likely to be overwhelmed during a disaster by a sudden spike in calls from the community. An LHD must have call center capacity that can shrink and grow on demand. In this session, Public Health-Seattle and King County will share lessons learned from operating a public information call center during H1N1 and tools developed to increase call center capacity and improve the effectiveness of phone-based emergency communications with the public. Participants at this session will have an opportunity to review and discuss tools such as call center scripts and an operator guide and workforce training that can improve their call center capacity.

Hearing the Unheard: Incorporating Ideas of Vulnerable Groups to Improve Disaster Preparedness in Houston

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International B

Interactive

Session Number: 404

This session will provide participants with an opportunity to expand their knowledge of reaching out to vulnerable populations in disaster preparedness planning. Participants will learn the relevance of working with vulnerable groups to study disaster preparedness for a local health department, the issues to be considered when conducting disaster preparedness related studies among the vulnerable groups, unique demands of vulnerable population groups, and ways to strengthen the functional outreach strategies to vulnerable groups for ensuring disaster preparedness.

Training and Planning Using Department of Homeland Security’Points MGT 319: Mass Prophylaxis Planning Course for Health Departments, Closed Points of Dispensing, and Partners

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International 6/7

Interactive

Session Number: 428

The Department of Homeland Security's MGT319:Bioterrorism: Mass Prophylaxis Planning course has reached approximately 3,500 public health personnel and their collaborative Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) planners in 18 states, two United States territories, and two tribal nations through 112 course deliveries. This two-day, on-site, free course offers a dynamic experience in a integrated, competency-based preparedness and response in-person training comprised of both didactive training and a game-based exercise of local plans. The course strengthens partnership building and operational capabilities to allow public health and SNS-collaborators to plan and train together.

There's a New Sheriff in Town: Partnering to Protect in a Public Health Response

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: International C

Interactive

Session Number: 448

Security is a vital function in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) process. It is mandatory that law enforcement (LE) personnel at the federal, state, and local levels understand their roles and responsibilities during the deployment of SNS assets. In response to the overwhelming request for specific law enforcement training, the state of Georgia has developed and is offering a Law Enforcement Summit specifically focused on the SNS and exclusively for LE personnel. This session will show local and state entities how to develop and implement their own law enforcement summits to improve security for public health preparedness and response.

Simulation for Success: Using Models for Preparedness and Response

Wednesday February 17th, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Room: A601

Interactive

Session Number: 482

This interactive panel session will share innovative training and planning approaches to mass dispensing; examine how technology can enhance education through interactive learning and simulating actual events; and explore computational modeling as a tool for decision-makers to better plan and allocate resources for outbreaks.