On
April 20, Rachel Schulman, Cities Readiness Initiative/Medical Countermeasures
Planner with MDH, and Jeffrey Shaw, Senior Analyst with the Hennepin County
Public Health Department, presented together at the 2018 Preparedness Summit in
Atlanta, Georgia. Their presentation focused on how Minnesota has increased the
efficiency of its medical countermeasures distribution program over the past
several years.
In
the event of a widespread bioterrorist attack, CDC would send large quantities
of medicines and supplies (“medical countermeasures”) that could be taken by
exposed people to prevent them from becoming ill. However, these medicines must
be taken quickly for them to be effective. Minnesota has worked with local,
state, and federal partners to speed up the process for distributing medical
countermeasures so that more lives can be saved. Improvements include the
relocation of the state’s receiving warehouse, a contract with UPS for
transportation, and the transition from paper-based to electronic systems.
These changes allowed for the elimination of intermediary local distribution
sites, and the freeing up of critical personnel and resources that counties
would need during a public health emergency. The session was well-received by
conference attendees from across the country.
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In Minnesota, coordination of the Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP) program is the
responsibility of the Department of Public Safety’s Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Management (HSEM). The HSEM REP program works to inform
and educate the public, local emergency managers and responders about
radiological preparedness. In support of this program, responsibilities are assigned to state
agencies that have the expertise to carry out specific actions during an
incident at a commercial nuclear generating plant. Counties within a ten-mile
planning zone around the two Minnesota nuclear power plants have emergency
operations plans and specific procedures that activate and guide various local
resources.
MDH responsibilities include staffing positions in the State
Emergency Operations Center and the MDH Department Operations Center (DOC). MDH
helps to analyze and recommend actions to protect the public and emergency
workers based on information from dose projections, and assists with
communicating health risks to the public. If an incident were to involve an
evacuation, MDH would be responsible for a broader array of activities. Such
activities might include: coordinating environmental sampling with laboratory
analyses; protecting the public from consuming contaminated foods and drinking
water; coordinating with local government and health care providers; and,
conducting health assessments.
To
test and fine-tune these various plans an procedures, and to demonstrate
Minnesota's readiness to FEMA, HSEM coordinates an annual full-scale
drill that alternates each year between the two nuclear power plants. These
drills are run using four planning scenarios, that vary within an 8-year
project cycle, and focus on no radiation release, hostile actions, the initial
plume phase, and intermediate phase scenarios. Aside from these required drills,
there are multiple others as well; these may vary from drills focused on
ensuring contamination levels do not enter the human food chain, to tabletop
exercises focused on evacuating local health care and long-term care facilities.
For more information on the Radiological Emergency
Preparedness (REP) Program please visit the MN
Homeland Security and Emergency Management REP Website. Any questions about
MDH REP preparedness, contact Amy Hass or 651-201-5818 .
The MN Climate and Health Program learned from state and
local emergency management and preparedness partners that a major obstacle in
initiating climate adaptation strategies is a lack of access to and
understanding of climate projection data, which provide measures of temperature
and precipitation well into the future.
In collaboration with these partners, Climate and Health
staff are creating climate data profiles for each MN Homeland Security and
Emergency Management (HSEM) region including climate projection data specific
to that region as well as individual counties. Available this summer, each
regional profile will include a case study of a past natural disaster and how
climate measures, like temperature and precipitation, may have influenced that
event and what projection estimates may suggest for similar events in the
future. This resource will provide emergency managers and preparedness partners
a framework for articulating projected local risks related to our changing
climate and support the development of climate adaptation strategies to protect
community health and safety.
KaYoua Khang
Moua is the new Office Manager in the Center for Emergency Preparedness and
Response (EPR). She comes to MDH from MNsure, where she was involved in
operational work, with responsibilities for leading and implementing a
multitude of projects, and developing processes and procedures. A Wisconsin
native who loves her Wisconsin cheese, KaYoua is happy to now call Minnesota
home (and is happy to now live close by restaurants where she can indulge and
enjoy one of her favorite desserts … yes, cheesecake). She is excited to join MDH
and looks forward to learning about all of EPR's various emergency preparedness and response activities.
Engaging Immigrant
and Refugee Communities
Here are several
resources produced by the Refugee and International Health Program at the Minnesota Department of Health to assist
in engaging immigrant and refugee communities.
2017 Health Resources
Directory for Diverse Cultural Communities
This resource directory of low-cost and immigrant-friendly services covers
dental services, disability services, domestic violence services and sexual
assault services, health services, home health services, hotlines, mental
health services, and vision services.
2017 Diverse Community
Media Directory
A quick reference for individuals working to identify appropriate media
channels that reach a broad cross section of diverse groups including
populations of color, American Indians, GLBT, people with disabilities,
immigrants and refugees in the Twin Cities metro area and, to a limited extent,
in greater Minnesota.
2017 MAA-CBO Directory
A quick reference for individuals working to identify appropriate mutual
assistance associations (MAAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) that
serve Minnesota’s many diverse communities. Listings are divided by ethnic
group.
May 15 - 16, 2018
Under One Roof
DECC - Duluth Entertainment Convention Center, Duluth, MN
To register and learn more
about the conference, visit the Under One Roof conference website.
Webcast Offered May 3 - June 12, 2018
Pediatric Surge Engagement Sessions
MN.TRAIN Course ID 1076868
One hour course offered at
various times
For persons interested in learning
about pediatric surge education materials that are in development. The course,
which will be offered on eight different occasions, will also provide an
overview of the Minnesota Pediatric Surge Plan. To register and learn more,
visit MN.TRAIN at its new URL.
MN.TRAIN: New Look and New URL
Update your bookmarks because MN.TRAIN has a new
URL and a new look! There’s no need to recreate a username and password, your
existing one works with the new and improved TRAIN platform. The new MN.TRAIN
URL is https://www.train.org/mn.
Check out the updated tutorials and download the new job aids located on the
Help tab for navigating the new MN.TRAIN.
Updated All-Hazards Plan
The
MDH
All-Hazards Response and Recovery Base Plan, which describes actions MDH
will take in response to incidents that have public health and/or medical
implications, has been updated for 2018.
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