http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hazmat-emergency-preparedness.html

Adapted by Beth Wescott

This web page discusses online training programs and tools developed by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to help communities develop sound, evidence-based assumptions in preparing for hazardous materials (HazMat) emergencies and disasters.

• Evidence-Based Disaster Lecture Series (Lessons Learned)
• Managing Hazardous Materials Incidents
• Toxicological Profiles
• Community Mapping GIS Program
• Case Studies in Environmental Medicine
• Technical Assistance for Plans, Drills,and Exercises
• Training To Manage Stress During Technological Disasters
• Analysis of Surveillance Data From HazMat Incidents
• Risk Communication Training
• About ATSDR
• How To Contact ATSDR

The section on Managing  Hazardous  Materials Incidents is a three-volume guide, with companion videos, for the management of chemically contaminated patients. It is available on CD-ROM and in print.

Volume I- Emergency Medical Services is a planning guide to assist first responders in managing contaminated patients in the pre-hospital setting.

Volume II- Hospital Emergency Departments is a planning guide to assist emergency department personnel in managing contaminated patients in the hospital setting.

Volume III- Medical Management Guidelines provides chemical-specific treatment information for acute exposure to 40 chemicals (or chemical classes) for first responders and hospitals.

Community Challenge is a two-part companion video that illustrates the guidance documents’ procedures for the pre-hospital and in-hospital settings  of volumnes  I and II.

http://nnlm.gov/ep/2008/04/23/service-continuity-planning/

by Dan Wilson

Click on the link below to view a PowerPoint presentation on service continuity planning. As the title implies, the presentation is designed to be a simple, relatively quick, approach to creating a service continuity plan. The content is based on the eight-step approach to service continuity planning document that can be found by clicking on the Service Continuity Planning tab beneath the title banner.

PowerPoint Presentation (for Office 2007): simplified-approach-to-service-continuity-planning

Slide 5 instructs that for state information on preparing for emergencies, go to: http://www.ready.gov/america/local/index.html and click on your state. See display below.

Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health

Against the Odds focuses on how individuals and communities, in collaboration with scientists, advocates, governments and international organizations, have made and are making a difference in the health of people around the globe.

The exhibit presents a look at the public health problems posed by Hurricane Katrina. It showcases the barefoot doctors program, which trained over one million young people to treat the common ailments of residents of rural China in the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition also profiles a campaign for oral rehydration in Bangladesh that was so successful that it has been adopted in Afghanistan as well. In another example of nation-to-nation collaboration, “Against the Odds” shows how the Pholela Health Center in South Africa inspired the community health center movement in the U.S.

Videocast of the opening:
http://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=14435

The exhibition web site:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/againsttheodds/introduction.html

http://www.hhs.gov/disasters/discussion/planners/playbook/hurricane/index.html

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has posted online its Hurricane Playbook (ESF-8 Hurricane Response), the first in a series designed to “outline key options and recommended actions to support the HHS Secretary in directing and coordinating the HHS Emergency Support Function (ESF) #8, Public Health and Medical Services, response to disasters and other large scale emergencies.” The playbooks’ primary focus is to enhance the preparedness for response and the transition to recovery (including alert, activation, deployment, and deactivation/demobilization of Federal resources).

It is hoped that state and local planners will use the playbooks to gain an understanding of the ways in which federal resources can be used in support of ESF #8 activities. The playbook employs a scenario that is based on the 2006 and 2007 Atlantic hurricane seasons and reflects consequences of and lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

As this and further playbooks are published, clinicians involved in emergency preparedness may wish to peruse them to learn about the federal government’s strategy for public health and medical responses to disasters. Increasingly, hospitals and other healthcare institutions will be expected to organize their preparedness and response activities in compliance with these principles.

Title: American journal of disaster medicine

ISSN: 1932-149X (Print) Title Abbreviation: Am J Disaster Med

Publication Start Year: 2006 Publisher: Prime National Pub. Corp.

Subject Term(s): Emergency Medicine, NLM ID: 101291100

“The journal has one goal: to provide physicians and medical professionals the essential informational tools they need as they seek to combine emergency medical and trauma skills with crisis management and new forms of triage.” (http://www.pnpco.com/pn03000.html)

Title: BMC emergency medicine

ISSN: 1471-227X (Electronic) Title Abbreviation: BMC Emerg Med Publication Start Year: 2001 Publisher: BioMed Central,Country: England Subject Term(s): Emergency Medicine, NLM ID: 100968543

“BMC Emergency Medicine is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of emergency medicine, trauma, and pre-hospital care.” (http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcemergmed/)

Title: Disaster medicine and public health preparedness

ISSN: 1935-7893 (Print) 1938-744X (Electronic)

Title Abbreviation: Disaster Med Public Health Prep Publication Start Year: 2007 Publisher: Lippincott Williams & WilkinsSubject Term(s): Emergency Medicine,
Public Health, NLM ID: 101297401

“This is a comprehensive and authoritative journal emphasizing public health preparedness and disaster response for all health care and public health professionals.”

(http://www.dmphp.org/misc/about.dtl#AboutAMA)

by Janice Kelly, executive director

In January the Regional Advisory Oversight Committee voted to add a new standing committee to the SE/A regional advisory structure. The RAC Emergency Preparedness Committee is charged to provide leadership in promoting emergency preparedness, continuity of service and follow-up reporting for emergencies. The committee is comprised of representatives from each state in the region with Dan Wilson from the University of Virginia serving as chair.

To fulfill its charge, committee members will:

• Assist the SE/A with developing and implementing a regional emergency preparedness plan to ensure continuity of service for Network members.
• Recommend improvements and new avenues for the SE/A to promote and deliver emergency preparedness/disaster recovery support to Network members.
• Serve as regional coordinators for emergency preparedness activities in the state:
  • Promote emergency preparedness in individual libraries and the state
  • When necessary, work as part of the regional emergency team to ensure continuation of services and recovery to affected Network member(s) in the state
  • Provide the SE/A office with follow-up and reporting of events following a disaster to include a description of the incident, the response, follow-up activities, and lessons learned.

Appointed to the new committee are:

AL: Jie Li, Senior Librarian
University of South Alabama Biomedical Library

DC: Leah Pellegrino, Librarian
George Washington University Himmelfarb Library

FL: Nadine Dexter, Associate University Librarian
Florida State University Medical Library

Allison Howard, Catalog/Reference Librarian
University of South Florida Shimberg Health Sciences Library

Gediminas (Geddy) Paulaitis, Director for Access and Biomedical Communications
University of Miami Calder Medical Library

GA: Kevin Bradford, Instructor/Clinical Information Librarian
Medical College of Georgia Greenblatt Library

MD: Teresa Knott, Deputy Director
University of Maryland, Baltimore Health Sciences and Human Services Library

MS: Susan Clark, Head, Reference
University of Mississippi Medical Center Rowland Medical Library

NC: Robert James, Associate Director of Access Services
Duke University Medical Center Library

PR: Charles Sequi Caballero, Assistant Librarian III
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus Library

SC: Felicia Yeh, Assistant Director for Collections Management
University of South Carolina Library

TN: Marcia Epelbaum, Assistant Director
Vanderbilt University Eskind Biomedical Library

Richard Nollan, Associate Professor
University of Tennessee, Memphis Library

Sandra Oelschlegel, Director
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Preston Medical Library

VA: Daniel T. Wilson, Assistant Director for Collection Management & Access
University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

WV: Jean L. Siebert, Learning Services Coordinator
West Virginia University Health Sciences Library

NN/LM: Beth M. Wescott, ex-officio
Network Access Coordinator

We thank them all for agreeing to serve.

Soon you will be learning more about the national emergency plan and may be asked to respond to a short questionnaire on your library’s emergency preparedness activities. Your participation will greatly enhance our ability to assist you in an emergency. Thanks for your cooperation.

http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/news.html

WISER 4.0 now available! You may download it from the WISER web site http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/, or access the on-line version http://webwiser.nlm.nih.gov/getHomeData.do. This new version introduces a biological substance list to augment the existing chemical and radioisotope lists. Highlights of this version include:

• Substance data for the six “Category A” biological agents (see the list http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/substances.html)
• WMD Response Guidebook pages are included into the substance data where appropriate
• A new tool for general browsing of the guide pages of the WMD Response Guidebook (except for Palm OS)
• A new Radiation Unit Conversion tool
• WISER can now automatically check for updates
• Incorporation of the latest NLM Hazardous Substance Data Bank updates
• And many more miscellaneous application and data enhancements

Want to get notices of WISER updates and news? If so, please go to http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/listserv_join.html to sign up for the WISER e-mail list. This list is used to send important announcements about WISER, such as updates, bug fixes, and new capabilities.

Librarians, public health and emergency trainers are invited to download ready-made educational materials for training responders on the usage of WISER. In addition to a module that provides an introduction to WISER, scenario-based presentations are available so a training unit can be built which meets the needs, interests, and time constraints of your department or organization.

A single download is available that includes a module introducing WISER and the scenario-based modules that have been produced so far.

For more details, please see http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/training.html

Visit www.pandemicflu.gov for one-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information, including health care planning resources and guidelines.

Where do you live

Selecting this map will take you to a page with links to state pandemic planning information, state pandemic Web site information, and local state contacts.

State & Local Planning & Response Activities:
Alabama: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/alabama.html
Florida: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/florida.html
Georgia: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/georgia.html
Maryland: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/maryland.html
Mississippi: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/mississippi.html
North Carolina: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/northcarolina.html
Puerto Rico: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/puertorico.html
South Carolina: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/scarolina.html
Tennessee: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/tennessee.html
Virgin Islands: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/vislands.html
Virginia: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/virginia.html
Washington, D. C.: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/dc.html
West Virginia: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/wvirginia.html

by Marilyn Teolis, Medical Librarian Coordinator, Baptist Hospital, Nashville, TN

SOLINET Disaster Assistance provides comprehensive information on disaster response including referrals to recovery companies in your area, and specific disaster advice on how to handle your collection materials.

Kara McClurken from SOLINET Disaster Assistance said any member could get disaster assistance 24/7 by dialing their number (800) 999-8558. After hours, you will be directed to an answering service. Please tell the operator you need to speak with someone from Preservation Field Services. The answering service will contact Ms. McClurken or one of the other two people that work with her.

If you have a major disaster, SOLINET may be able to match you with people from their volunteers’ database. Some of the volunteers have previous experience with a disaster. However, this is no guarantee, as individuals may not be able to get off of work, etc.

The web site www.solinet.net/disaster has an emergency checklist, recovery resources, and additional disaster planning and prevention information. The web site contains forms where you can request help or volunteer to help others in the event of a disaster.