News and Articles

Finding the world’s unknown viruses — before they find us

One by one, the viruses have slipped from their hiding places in nature to threaten global populations — SARS, MERS, Zika.

In each case, scientists have scrambled to identify the viruses and to develop vaccines or drugs to stop their spread. After each crisis, the assessment has been the same: Countermeasures were not ready in time to help in the containment effort.

Read More>>

Return To Top

Training & Events

Caring for Children with Congenital Zika Virus: Building Community Support

Archived Webinar

This 58-minute webinar is a collaboration between the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It describes the Zika virus and shares strategies for preparedness used at one U.S. children's hospital. Speakers discuss key questions children's hospitals may have while thinking about preparing to see infants with congenital Zika virus disease, and share experiences from other hospitals that have been through the preparedness process.

Read More>>

Return To Top

Tools & Resources

Utilizing Public Health and Medical Mission Ready Packages: Operation Helping Hand (Tabletop exercise toolkit)

In a tabletop exercise (TTX) through a facilitated discussion, players will drive the action of the exercise, while observers witness the decisions made and processes followed. This exercise will simulate the decision making, deployment, and reimbursement processes that would occur for the deployment of a Mission Ready Package (MRP) under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC). An actual event of this nature would necessitate the involvement of additional response partners and activities that are not included in this exercise.

Read More>>

Return To Top

• News and Articles
• Training & Events
• Tools & Resources
• The Michigan Update
• Research

About the Guardian

The Guardian of Public Health is a monthly newsletter from the Bureau of EMS, Trauma, and Preparedness (BETP) within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The Guardian aims to provide its readers with relevant content on topics that affect the public health of citizens and communities in Michigan. For questions or comments please contact Kerry Chamberlain at chamberlaink2@michigan.gov.

Click here to subscribe to the Guardian

The Michigan Update

Lessons from the Past to Build for the Future Symposium

District 1 Regional Medical Response Coalition (D1RMRC) is pleased to announce the "15th Annual WMD/CBRNE Symposium “Lessons from the Past to Build for the Future", being held at on the campus of Michigan State University at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 from 8:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Complimentary continental breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m. 

D1RMRC will host national speakers from Orlando Health and Orange County Emergency Management to present the mass casualty and mass fatality incident that occurred in June 2016, sustained power outage and continuity of operations at a long term care community, medical surge response and continuity of operations including long term recovery from internal flooding at a tertiary care center, and Federal Bureau of Investigation current threats effecting the healthcare sector and future trends.

The target audience for the symposium includes Hospitals, Clinical Staff, Pharmacists, EMS, Local Public Health, Emergency Management, Behavioral Health, Long Term Care, Dialysis, Educators, State/Local government and community partners.

Registration is available on MI-TRAIN this year at https://mi.train.org.  Access the MI-TRAIN website, (create an account if you have never registered) and login.

To register, search for the Symposium in the Search box located in the upper right hand corner of the MI-TRAIN home screen by typing in the Course ID:  1067420

Return To Top

Research

Nurses’ Attitudes towards Enforced Measures to Increase Influenza Vaccination: a Qualitative Study

Despite studies demonstrating that the annual influenza vaccination of healthcare workers reduces morbidity and mortality among vulnerable patients, vaccination rates remain very low, particularly in nursing staff. Educational programs have failed to improve rates, which has led to a diverse range of enforced approaches being advocated and implemented.  The objective was to examine the attitudes of non-vaccinated nursing staff towards various enforced measures aimed at increasing rates of influenza vaccination. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of 18 non-vaccinated nurses, working in units with high-risk patients at two hospitals in Switzerland. Analysis of interviews was done using conventional content analysis. Nurses were critical of enforced measures. However, measures that include an element of choice were perceived as more acceptable. Declination forms and mandatory vaccinations as part of the employment requirements were found to be the most accepted measures.

Read More>>

Return To Top