Greetings,

I hope you are all finding some time to enjoy the beautiful summer. This quarter was especially busy for our group of EPR trainers. From April to June they delivered eight two-day workshops across the state, titled "Using ICS in a Public Health Response." The training was the result of a discussion with the State Community Health Services Advisory Committee (SCHSAC) PHEP Oversight Work Group to develop a hands on training for local health departments that would also allow agencies to work as a team and was made available with carry forward dollars. 

The training provided participants a detailed review of the FEMA planning cycle, and allowed them to apply key concepts during a coached exercise, where they worked through a Hepatitis A response scenario. Noya Woodrich, Deputy Commissioner at the City of Minneapolis Department of Health, expressed appreciation for the training stating, “It helps you think about things through a different lens. When you have time to think about health issues and how they impact community, it’s a luxury. You aren’t rushed into a response and you aren’t rushed to make decisions. When you are going through an exercise like this, where you are trying to decide how you will respond in an emergency, I think you are forced to think of all of the things that go into making decisions about a response, and you can take those things and apply them to your day-to-day job.”

Trainings such as this invest in our readiness as a state by developing skilled and experienced public health personnel who are equipped to respond to a broad range of emergencies.

Additionally, the Disaster Mortuary Emergency Response Team participated in an Airport Crash Exercise. The article below provides an overview of the exercise, and a video showing the team in action. The DMERT is shown a few times in the field, identifying debris as well as remains, and they are shown working on the data entry process which is required as part of the operation in the temporary morgue.   

Happy Summer!

Cheryl

The Disaster Mortuary Emergency Response Team (DMERT) participated in the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport crash exercise on May 11. MDH EPR plays the role of coordination of the DMERT volunteers in the event of a mass casualty event. In preparation for the exercise, a notification call was sent to all team members the evening of May 10. It is important to test the after-hours, unannounced notification to ensure a coordinated response, should this type of incident occur.

This exercise tested the Mass Casualty Plan and allowed the team members to respond to the airport to assist with the search of the crash site. Team members, who are volunteers from across the state from several different specialties, also tested the computer systems that would be used for ante-mortem and post-mortem data entry. Twenty-two of the members from the team participated. Currently, the team consists of more than 60 individuals who may be asked to assist, if necessary.

At the conclusion of the exercise, the DMERT was better prepared to receive notification and to be ready to go as soon as they arrive on scene following an incident.

Click the link below to watch a short video about the exercise that shows the DMERT volunteers in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj0EqSlMsww&feature=youtu.be

When an explosion rocked the Husky Oil Refinery in Superior, WI, the Northeast Regional Public Health Preparedness Consultant, Marilyn Cluka's, first thought was how her skill set could be utilized in the response. During a public health emergency, she brings knowledge of state and local operations to fill gaps by connecting partners and resources as needed. When the local emergency manager called her in to the St. Louis County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), she was ready to go.

During a rapidly moving response, every second counts. Teams from St. Louis County moved quickly to support the Wisconsin-run response, standing up the EOC and assessing hospital and long term care bed availability in MNTRAC, the statewide tracking system. When a second fire ignited just as the first had been contained, St. Louis County was forced to prepare for the worst-case scenario: the possibility of 6,000-8,000 residents evacuating to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC), hospital and long-term care evacuations, and a thick black smoke descending upon Superior and the surrounding areas. Even during the most stressful moments of uncertainty, Cluka noted that the team remained calm. They waited for situational updates, which eventually led to the de-escalation of the situation, and successful sheltering of fewer than 100 individuals overnight at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC).

Every emergency begins and ends locally: the investments Minnesota has made in innovative response systems, trained personnel, and cross-jurisdictional collaboration all contributed to a coordinated response supported by the City of Superior, St. Louis County and the states of MN and WI, in addition to numerous other internal and external partners.