The National Library of Medicine (NLM), in partnership with members of the Professional & Scholarly Publishing division of the Association of American Publishers announce the availability of free full-text articles from over 200 biomedical journals and over 65 reference books for libraries and hospitals affected by the earthquake in Haiti.  The collection is also intended for healthcare personnel responding to the disaster.

(more…)

A new page of Haiti earthquake health information links is now available at http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/haitiearthquake.html

The page lists NEW web pages about the Haiti earthquake situation from both government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is also a section on Haitian Creole and French-language materials. Links to background information on earthquakes and subsequent health issues, such as public health assessments, emergency surgical care, and management of dead bodies, are included.

The page will continue to expand and will add a section on hazards from concrete dust and other airborne particulates from the collapsed buildings and subsequent clean-up activities.

Submitted by Cindy Love
Disaster Information Management Research Center
Specialized Information Services Division
National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892-5467
cindy_love@nlm.nih.gov

Congratulations to Dr. John Clarke, winner of the 2009 Flu Prevention PSA Contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Here is his winning entry:

(more…)

Have you noticed an increased number of announcements or other activity from NN/LM surrounding Emergency Preparedness?  I hope so!  We have been working hard to keep Emergency Preparedness on the minds of our Network Members, since this is part of a national initiative across the eight NN/LM regions.   We have 5 State Coordinators for Emergency Preparedness who, along with Gail Kouame, are promoting the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness plan and related training opportunities around the region. (more…)

On Tuesday, June 9th at 1pm Pacific we will be hosting the first of a series of 10 webinars on Adobe Connect covering the “10 Steps to Service Continuity” as outlined in the NN/LM Emergency Preparedness Plan.  Each month over the next 10 months we will host a session to cover one of the 10 Steps.  On June 9th, Gail Kouame, Regional Coordinator for Emergency Preparedness and Response will lead the discussion and interactive session on Step One: Risk Assessment.

Come find out what your library may be at risk for so that you can better prepare.  Take a quiz and add up your score to see where you stand in terms of area hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, rivers, and even construction cranes! (more…)

The NN/LM PNR Emergency Preparedness page was updated today – it now includes the Health and Human Services/CDC  Swine Flu widget so that you can easily link to updates and information about the Swine Flu outbreak.  The epidemic has already hit the West Coast in Canada and in California so we here in the Pacific Northwest need to be attentive!

There are some simple things you can do to protect yourself: (more…)