Chemical emergencies can happen at any time at health care
facilities. The impact may not only be to the facility but
patients, staff, and the surrounding community. To assist
hospitals and all health care partners, ASPR/TRACIE has developed
a “Chemical Emergency Considerations for Health Care Facilities”
resource to assist in preparing and responding to chemical
emergencies.
Presenter:
Jason Wilken, PHD, MPH, CDC Career
Epidemiology Field Officer
Danny Kwon, MPH, REHS, California
Department of Public Health
Facilities that operate dialysis or opioid treament programs can
learn about emergency preparedness to assist before, during, and
after a critical event. View the 21 minutes
video.
Presented and shared by Steve Storbakken and Kevin Muszynski,
both of Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, with CalOES Chief
L. Vance Taylor; these materials share techniques and resurces
for integrating Access and Functional Needs (AFNs) into your
disaster planning.
Following the Loma Prieta earthquake, patients’ access to care
was severely impacted by temporary closure of several dialysis
facilities. These closures demonstrated an obvious need for
additional disaster preparedness for dialysis facilities.
With funding from CMS, the ESRD Network 17 developed a
manual entitled “Disaster Preparedness: A Guide for Chronic
Dialysis Facilities” which includes best practices for
preparing for and responding to disasters based on
many lessons learned from the Loma Prieta earthquake.
The Kidney Community Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition
provides technical assistance to ESRD Networks, Medicare
organizations, and other groups to ensure timely and efficient
disaster preparedness, response, and recovery for the kidney
community.
The KCER Coalition strives to provide disaster preparedness
resources to save lives, improve outcomes, empower patients and
families, educate healthcare workers, build partnerships with
stakeholders, promote readiness in the community, and support the
ESRD Network Program.
Take a few minutes to browse the information about the Coalition;
Response Teams; and resources for patients, providers, ESRD
Networks, and emergency management. Feel free to contact us with
any questions.
Identifying Vulnerable Older Adults and Legal Options for
Increasing Their Protection During All-Hazards Emergencies: A
Cross-Sector Guide for States and Communities.
FEMA Director Craig Fugate’s editorial was featured by CNN
and is entitled “Are disabled still at risk in disasters?”. The
article continues to stress the need for disability disaster
planning
The Jackson County (Florida) Emergency Management Department
has undertaken an initiative entitled Operation Full Access. The
program focuses on disability disaster planning and
has goals which include:
Reviewing disaster readiness of the county’s organizations
and agencies
Convening a Task Force to analyze individual disaster
readiness for residents with disabilities, who are
transportation disadvantaged, senior citizens, or those who speak
limited or no English.
