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The next EPC call is scheduled for October 11, 2018 from 1:30 -2:30 pm. Call Agenda.
Livingston County Health
Department currently has limited seats remaining for its joint offering of
MGT-319 on November 5th and 6th in Howell, MI. The course is a guide for local health
officials and their partners to coordinate plans to provide mass distribution
of medical countermeasures in response to a large-scale public health incident.
This course focuses on planning considerations, recommendation to achieve the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) 48-hour standard for Mass
Prophylaxis, and the local community’s Mass Prophylaxis and Point of Dispensing
(POD) site preparedness. The course material is applicable to pandemic
influenza, bio-terrorism, and other public health emergencies.
Livingston has asked that
interested persons register no later than Friday, October. Please refer to attached
flyer and registration instructions for additional information. Please contact
Lindsay Gestro with any questions.
The CDC and the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) published
a supplemental issue on September 7 titled “Public Health Emergencies: Unpacking Medical Countermeasures Management
for Preparedness and Response.” The
supplement provides a glimpse of public health preparedness to ensure medical
countermeasures are available for immediate deployment when the public requires
protection. Included in the supplement are 14 articles in the form of briefs,
commentaries, a public health practice summary, an analytic essay, and a series
of content-focused perspectives to highlight past, present, and future
considerations for MCM programs, response, and evaluation. The papers presented
in the supplement represent a small fraction of the topics spanning the varied
and complex components of an MCM response. To learn more about the supplement,
visit the AJPH
website.
DSLR’s Capacity Building Branch is designing a series of virtual
exercises for Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and Hospital
Preparedness Program (HPP) recipients to explore community reception center
(CRC) planning considerations and provide guidance to local jurisdictions. CRCs
are similar to point of dispensing (POD) sites but are created to respond to
radiation emergencies. CRCs are set up in jurisdictions that would receive
displaced populations in the event of a radiation emergency for radioactive
contamination and to decontaminate individuals. An important role of CRCs is to
register people for follow-up monitoring, medical assessment, or management, as
needed.
In early 2019, DSLR will host a nationwide webinar providing
background information about CRCs and public health’s role in radiation
emergencies. DSLR also will introduce a new tool to help planners convert POD
plans into CRC plans. The new tool covers 10 major CRC planning areas,
including identifying the lead agency and clarifying public health’s role,
selecting a CRC site, and communication, among other topics.
Following the webinar, CDC will work with interested PHEP and HPP
recipients to conduct a series of virtual workshops focused on using the new
tool. The goal of the workshops is to help local jurisdictions draft CRC plans
that will then be exercised during a virtual tabletop exercise. Recipients are
encouraged to invite local jurisdictions and key partners to these virtual
workshops. More information will be provided when available.
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
has published a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) Toolkit for Public Health and Pharmacies.
It presents a standardized template to formalize responsibilities between state
public health agencies and pharmacies for pandemic influenza vaccination and response
planning. The template provides guidance and tools for state and territorial
health agencies to use when establishing agreements with pharmacies to support
a strong public health response to influenza pandemics and other
vaccine-related public health emergencies.
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