WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) is a mobile application from the National Library of Medicine designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents.

The second release for WISER for iPhone/iPod touch is now available.  Investigate what’s new in this updated release:

WISER’s Help Identify Chemical capability is now available on the iOS platform. Identify and validate an unknown chemical based on the following criteria:

• physical properties of the substance gathered by observation or sensors
• signs and symptoms of victims of exposure
• the ability to categorize a substance, such as a substance used in a meth lab or a flammable substance
• hazard values from NFPA 704 placards
• transportation identification, including DOT placards, type of road trailer, and type of rail car

Use WISER’s protective distance mapping feature on your iPhone or iPod touch. Visualize the areas likely to be affected during the first 30 minutes after a substance is spilled or released on a live map. The Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response Guidebook is the source of WISER’s protective distance data.

WISER for iPhone/iPod touch can be downloaded and installed directly from the Apple App Store.

Reviews are always appreciated.  If you’d like to let us know what you think of the latest WISER enhancements, please consider leaving a comment on the App store. You can read more about our privacy policy on Third-Party Web Sites and Applications here. 

WebWISER Update

WebWISER has been updated to include protective distance mapping.  Visualize a protective distance map directly within your web browser.

Coming Soon

Look for these exciting additions in the coming months:

• Universal iOS (iPad) support
• WISER for Android 2.0, which adds Help Identify Chemical and protective distance mapping to this popular platform 

The Medical Library Association (MLA) is looking for up to five continuing education (CE) instructors/instructor teams to develop and teach courses on disaster information as part of a project to enhance its Disaster Information Specialization project.  Each instructor/instructor team selected will be responsible for developing one new disaster information course.  At the end of this project, 5 new courses will be added to MLA’s specialization.  Below are specifics regarding this course development project:

To develop the content and materials for a CE course focusing on disaster information.  MLA is contracting for two basic courses each 3 hours in length and three advanced courses each 4 hours in length.  The instructor will have a liaison from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) for content assistance.

Course Titles/Topics (see www.mlanet.org/education/dis/index.html for the list of individual course topics and content):

• Basic 1: U.S. Response to Disaster and Public Health Emergencies – or similar title

• Basic 2: Information Roles in Disaster Preparedness, Response, Recovery – or similar title

• Advanced 1: CBRN and Hazmat Information Resources – or similar title

• Advanced 2: See list of suggested topics on MLANET – www.mlanet.org/education/dis/index.html.  MLA will also consider developer-created course subject.

• Advanced 3: See list of suggested topice on MLANET – www.mlanet.org/education/dis/index.html.  MLA will also consider developer-created course subject.

To present the course both in-person and virtually.  The goal is to reach approximately 40 individuals per course with the various presentations.

In-person courses:

• The two basic courses will take place on Thursday, May 24th directly following MLA’s Annual Meeting in Seattle, WA.

• The three advanced course will take place with local library groups. MLA is currently negotiating local venues for hosting the courses. They plan to host one advanced course per month in June, July and August 2012.

• In-person courses should include student interaction beyond the standard Q&A session.

Virtual courses:

• The virtual courses would need to be taught during the summer of 2012. Our current virtual hosting schedule is:

June 2012: Basis 1
July 2012: Basic 2 and Advanced 1
August 2012: Advanced 2 and 3

• The virtual course should include a minimum of 3-4 hours of online instruction with student interaction.  The course should include live, virtual presentations and a variety of “homework” assignments that can include pre- and post- testing, case studies, journal article reading, and other interactive activities.  These activities may take place before, during or after the live, virtual presentation.  If needed, MLA would be able to assist with the use of their instructional software.
• The Scope of Work for Course Developers from NLM (MLA’s project partner) is located on MLANET (see www.mlanet.org/education/dis/index.html).  MLA strongly encourages developers to read this document before submitting a proposal.
• MLA will provide a $5,000 honorarium for the development of the course.  There are also additional funds set aside for honoraria and expenses to teach the course both virtually and in person.

Additional Background Information

The development and instruction of these courses will be a part of the curriculum of MLA’s Disaster Information Specialization.  This specialization is a joint project of MLA and NLM.  This program will be designed to develop the capacity of librarians and other interested professionals to provide disaster-related health information outreach.

The vision of this specialization is to create a continuing education program that will prepare participants to provide disaster-related library or information services as part of their ongoing job functions.  The specialization will offer a curriculum of courses that would allow those interested to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to support their libraries, institutions and communities with information needed for disaster preparedness, response and recovery.

This program would be designed to allow participants the opportunity to expand their roles by offering more specialized training in providing access to information in times of disaster and emergency.

To find out more about the development of MLA Disaster Information Specialization check out http://www.mlanet.org/education/dis/index.html.

The curriculum for MLA’s Disaster Information Specialization already includes one basic course entitled “Disaster Health Information Sources: The Basics.”  This course was developed by Robin Featherstone as part of MLA’s 2010-2011 contract with NLM.  To find out more about Robin’s course, go to http://mlanet.org/education/dis/basics.html.

Submission Instructions

If you are interested in being considered as an instructor(s)/course developer(s) for these courses, please send an email to mlapd1@mlahq.org.  This email should include:

• Your name and contact information;
• A copy of your resume/CV, including your teaching and course development experience;
• A brief (500-word or less) description of your interest in the project including your experience or knowledge of disaster information; and
• Your ideas for the course including how you would include student interaction and a brief outline of course content

Your email and any questions should be sent to Kathleen Combs, MLA’s Director of Professional Development, at mlapd1@mlahq.org by Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

This project is funded by the National Library of Medicine under contract HHS-N-276-2010-00782-P

Part 2: Response & Recovery
Seattle: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 – 9:00am – 4:00pm
Location: Odegaard Undergraduate Library Room 220, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

The “Protecting Cultural Collections” workshops are presented in a 2-part sequence to produce the following outcomes for disaster preparedness activities:

• Complete a disaster response & collection salvage plan by the end of Part 2
• Learn how to train staff to implement your plan effectively
• Set pre- and post-disaster action priorities for your collections
• Understand practical decision-making skills needed during an emergency
• Experience salvage procedures for a wide variety of material including books, documents, photos & objects

Sponsored by Western States & Territories Preservation Assistance Service (WESTPAS).  Co-sponsored by the Seattle Heritage Emergency Response Network (SHERN).

Instructor: Gary Menges is retired Preservation Administrator at the University of Washington Libraries, Seattle.  He is a member of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Collections Emergency Response Team (AID CERT).

The workshop days are scheduled 6 weeks apart.  Participants will prepare short assignments prior to the first session; between sessions, they will undertake additional assignments resulting in a completed disaster plan at the end of Part 2.  Upon completion, the institution will be invited to join an informal network of WESTPAS trained personnel to provide mutual aid in the event of emergencies involving collections in the region.

Who should attend: Administrators and staff responsible for emergency preparedness, response and decision-making, in all types of cultural institutions.  by registering for the workshop, the institution commits to supporting the attendee(s0 to achieve the workshop’s disaster preparedness goals.  When possible, please send two attendees so they can work together on the disaster preparedness activities.

Cost: No charge to the institution.  funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  co-sponsored by the Seattle Heritage Emergency Response Network (SHERN).

Registration: Pre-registration required.  Register online at: WESTPAS workshop http://tiny.cc/ZePOL (Go to March 27th and click on the date)/

For registration assistance contact: Alexandra Gingerich – gingerich@plsinfo.org

For general & content information contact Gary Menges – gmenges@westpas.org

Additional information about the workshops will be sent to the registrants before each workshop.

The 2012 Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference will take place April 10-12, 2012 at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.  It is the largest and most successful regional emergency preparedness conference in the Pacific Northwest.  Partners in Emergency Preparedness annually hosts nearly 700 people representing business, schools, government, the nonprofit sector, emergency management professionals, and volunteer organizations.

The Partners in Emergency Preparedness Conference attracts top-notch speakers with expertise that includes lessons learned from recent worldwide events like earthquakes, work place violence, current hazards research, contingency planning, school preparedness, techology, media interactions, and public health issues.  speakers and exhibitors provide cutting-edge information on subjects such as business continuity planning, school safety, public health preparedness, homeland security, and public information.

Effective emergency management can only be accomplished through partnerships.  This conference offers you the opportunity to develop those relationships and gain necessary information to fulfill your preparedness needs, to understand the importance of preparedness education and planning, and to meet your future partners in preparedness.  This conference attracts individuals representing government, non-profit sector, private, businesses, schools, volunteers, and emergency management professionals.

For more information, visit the conference web site: https://www.cm.wsu.edu/ehome/piepc/39774/

You can also contact Dana Colwell, Conference Coordinator at: 253-445-4575 or Dana.Colwell@wsu.edu

The Homer Public Library, in collaboation with the Friends of the Homer Public Library and local emergency responders, held a month of activities aimed at increasing the community’s emergency preparedness thanks to a $5000 NN/LM Community Preparedness Day Award.  Events, which were timed to coincide with national Disaster Preparedness Month, kicked off on September 21st with a special Story Time about safety and natural phenomena that occur locally, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

On September 24th the library hosted a Community Preparedness Day. Area emergency responders gave 15-minutes presentations throughout the day on emergency preparedness issues.  In addition, the public was invited to visit information booths operated by various agencies, including the Alaska Division of Forestry, the Homer Volunteer Fire Department, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management and the Homer Senior Citizens.

One of the biggest draws of the day was the bright orange buckets, used to distribute 75 emergency preparedness kits funded by the award.  These buckets included a first aid kit, an emergency radio, and pamphlets from FEMA and the local veterinary clinic on how to prepare for an emergency.  The bucket itself was a useful water-storage device.  Community members, including the Homer City mayor, flocked to the library to pick up their buckets and then stopped by the booths to fill those bucket with more safety information.

Additionally, on September 28th the library hosted a forum for survivors of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake to tell their stories.  More than a dozen survivors shared compelling stories to an audience of over 30 people, imparting wisdom and perspective about the very real risks faced by Alaskans living on the “ring of fire.”

The Homer Public Library is also purchasing materials on emergency preparedness, survival, self-sufficiency and related topics to better serve this end-of-the-road community.  The activities and material funded by the NN/LM award have improved community awareness about emergency preparedness and placed helpful tools into the hands of Southern Kenai Peninsula residents.

Note: If you organization is interested in holding a Community Preparedness Day event, we are currently offering funding.  Please see the funding announcement – applications are due December 16, 2011.

The purpose of the Disaster Health Information Outreach Project is to design programs for improving disaster medicine and public health information access for health professionals, first responders and others (paid or volunteer) that play a role in health-related disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Emphasis is on providing information or access to health and medical information in a way useful to the target audiences, and increasing the awareness and utilization of high-quality professional-level online medical and public health information resources on disaster, all-hazards, and emergency topics including resources from the National Library of Medicine. The purpose is also to promote new and creative collaborations on disaster health information needs among and to the mutual benefit of librarians, information specialists, or informationists and the disaster workforce.

Approved projects will be funded up to $15,000.

For more information, see the full funding announcement or contact Gail Kouame at gmarie@uw.edu or 206-221-3449.

Proposals will be accepted until February 1, 2012. However, if you plan to submit a proposal, we need a brief statement of intent no later than January 13, 2012 to help our planning process. Please submit your statement of intent to apply to nnlm@uw.edu.

The goals of Community Preparedness Day are to:

• Encourage, strengthen and/or expand library partnerships with first responders and community emergency management personnel
• Provide access to emergency management information tools and resources for families or other target populations
• Integrate and involve libraries in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery planning
• Promote and publicize the roles libraries, faith, or community organizations can play in emergency preparedness
• Strengthen and expand medical and public library partnerships

Applications from libraries and other organizations are welcome.

Consideration of requests for funding will begin on December 16, 2011. Proposals should be submitted using the Community Preparedness Day Award Application.

For additional information, see the full funding announcement or contact Gail Kouame, NN/LM PNR Consumer Health Outreach Coordinator at gmarie@uw.edu, 1-800-338-7657.

Three of the National Library of Medicine’s free mobile applications are now available for Android devices. They are Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER), Radiation Emergency Medical Management (REMM), and LactMed.

WISER is a tool to assist emergency responders with hazardous materials (HAZMAT) incidents. It provides a wide range of information on chemical, biological, and radiological agents, including substance identification, physical characteristics, human health and emergency medical treatment information, and containment and suppression assistance.

REMM provides guidance for health care providers, primarily physicians, about clinical diagnosis and treatment of radiation injury during radiological and nuclear emergencies. It provides just-in-time, evidence-based, usable information with sufficient background and context to make complex issues understandable to those without formal radiation medicine expertise.

LactMed is a database of drugs and other chemicals to which breastfeeding mothers may be exposed. It includes information on the levels of such substances in breast milk and infant blood, and the possible adverse effects in the nursing infant.

The National Library of Medicine offers more than a dozen free, mobile-friendly health information databases. To see them all, go to NLM’s Gallery of Mobile Apps and Sites.

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NN/LM PNR has learned of several upcoming free webinars that may be of interest:

• Tuesday, August 23rd: 11am – 12pm Pacific

Incorporating Ethics into Emergency Planning and Response to Ensure Health Equity

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This seminar will focus on the incorporation of ethics into emergency planning and response to promote health equity. A local jurisdiction’s approach to the development of an ethics framework will be highlighted, and an example of equitable distribution of vaccine with hospitals and culturally-specific communities will be described.  For more information and to register, visit this link: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e4e3j1ok8114fea7&llr=pf7m85dab&source=govdelivery

• Wednesday, August 31st and Wednesday, September 7th: 10am – 11am Pacific

Health Technology Assessment: 101 and Comparative Effectiveness Research – A 2-part Webinar Series

From the National Library of Medicine’s National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR)

We live in an age of abundant choice, especially mystifying in the choice of health care options and technologies. Too often, patients, providers, administrators, insurers, and policy makers are faced with an increasing array of decisions with few tools to help them make informed decisions. Health technology assessment (HTA) and comparative effectiveness research (CER) are two related approaches for helping to make better informed decisions. This two-part webinar series will provide a brief introductory overview of HTA and CER respectively, the methods used in each form of policy analysis, some of the major organizations involved in HTA and CER, how HTA and CER differ, and the role of HTA and CER in the individual as well as the collective healthcare decision-making process.

No registration required.  For more information about the series and how to access the webinars, visit this link: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/htawebinars/index.html

• Wednesday, September 14th: 10am – 11:30am Pacific
  

New Strategies for Engaging Consumers in Development and Use of Evidence

From Academy Health

As health care evolves to become more patient-centered, the role of patients and consumers in the evidence generation process is expanding.  This expansion has given rise to a growing set of questions for comparative effectiveness research (CER) projects around how, when, and to what extent to engage patients and consumers in figuring out what works best for whom, and under what conditions. The research community will increasingly be called upon to take into account new perspectives and priorities according to the needs and interest of patients and consumers, but how?

Registration for this session is free, but space is limited.  For more information and to register, visit this link: http://www.academyhealth.org/Training/ResourceDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=7377

All timely and relevant topics – pick one, or two, or all three!

*** “WE HAVE EXTENDED THE PROPOSAL DUE DATE TO SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 - NO LATER THAN 3:00PM EST. IN ADDITION, ELECTRONIC PROPOSALS WILL BE ACCEPTED BY SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 NO LATER THAN 3:00PM EST. ALL ELECTRONIC PROPOSALS MUST BE SENT TO buseyk@mail.nlm.nih.gov.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) announces a new funding opportunity for small pilot projects to improve access to disaster medicine and public health information for health care professionals, first responders and others that play a role in health-related disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.  NLM is soliciting proposals from partnerships that include at least one library and at least one non-library organization that has disaster-related responsibilities, such as a hospital, volunteer organization, public health department, public safety department, fire/rescue, or other local, regional or state agency.  NLM encourages submission of innovative proposals that enhance mutually beneficial collaboration among libraries and disaster-related agencies.

For example, projects may increase awareness of health information resources, demonstrate how libraries and librarians can assist planners and responders with disaster-related information needs, show ways in which disaster workers can educate librarians about disaster management, and/or include collaboration among partners in developing information resources that support planning and response to public health emergencies.

Contract awards will be offered for a minimum of $15,000 to a maximum of $30,000 for each one-year project.  The deadline for proposals is August 31, 2011.  Proposals are limited to six pages plus supplemental materials such as resumes, letters of support, and a budget.  For more information and instructions about the “Disaster Health Information Outreach and Collaboration Project 2011: (NLM-011-130-KDB), please visit: http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/2011disasteroutreachrfq.html.

The solicitation notice is on FedBizOpps.gov at: https:/www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=54495f6f78d46c7c5d6873a8f0825e88&tab=core&_cview=0.