Partners in Preparedness

Volume 2 Issue 1

Expecting the Unexpected

Michele McMahon
Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments

Disasters can be natural or manmade. Recent natural events, such as Hurricane Sandy, remind us of the heavy impact disasters can have on the healthcare community.  Those of us who were unaffected await the details from the facilities in the northeast.  We will take the lessons learned and put them into best practices for our community. Although the northeast had warning of a storm, there were still unexpected situations that arose both during and after their emergency response.

As we think about expecting the unexpected here in the metro-Atlanta area, I invite you to recall the ice storm of February 2011. It wasn’t a super storm or hurricane event, but the majority of the metro area was frozen under a thick sheet of ice. Roads were impassible, EMS vehicles were stuck, school was closed for a week, and Healthcare workers stayed and slept at their facilities for several days. Many healthcare workers couldn’t get to work, patients couldn’t get to facilities for regularly scheduled appointments and treatment, and many ambulatory care facilities were closed. That experience changed the way many healthcare facilities and organizations prepare for the unexpected.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, Georgia’s winter promises to be a wet one and depending on the temperatures. We might experience another ice storm or possibly a snow event. Now is the time to plan and prepare for the upcoming winter.

In this issue, our featured articles will address how the healthcare community is preparing their staff, their patients and their facilities for a severe weather event. We will take a look into the dialysis community with Theresa Tapley, RN, CDN, and Director of Operations for Fresenius Medical Services. J.W. Thaxton with Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services and Gwinnett County Emergency Management Agency writes about how they are preparing for a severe winter weather event. Finally, Cathy Clark, epidemiologist with Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments provides information on how to stay well in the cold months.

If your organization has ways you prepare for severe winter weather that you would like to share with other Partners, send us a note at info@gnrhealth.com.  We’ll compile the comments and sent out to all subscribers.

Emergency Response: Fresenius Medical Care

Theresa Tapley
Fresenius Medical Care

According to the National Kidney Foundation approximately 26 million people in the United States have kidney disease, with more than 360,000 of them on dialysis. These patients typically need to receive dialysis every two days, and any substantial delay in dialysis care can be life-threatening. When weather disrupts electrical power or makes travel difficult, these patients become one of the most vulnerable segments of the population,

Fresenius Medical Care North America’s (FMCNA) has tested and validated a disaster response plan many times in recent years, during Hurricanes Sandy, Ike, Isaac, and Katrina;  in times of tornadoes, floods, ice storms, severe thunderstorms; during the H1N1 pandemic, and following the Haiti earthquake. When such events occur, FMCNA coordinates efforts across all levels of the company, so that staff can provide patients with dialysis treatments, equipment and supplies, medicines, and lab services.  Fresenius Medical Care’s Emergency Response Team – assisted by divisional, technical and regional employees, local governments, and community organizations such as the Kidney Community Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition – work overtime to prepare for and respond to disasters.  FMCNA and its partners continue to coordinate a variety of critical activities such as:

• Providing early extra treatment opportunities to patients at clinics affected by the disaster.
• When disaster forces closure, redirecting patients to the nearest open clinic and adding treatment capacity at open facilities to accommodate patients from FMCNA and other providers’ facilities.
• Delivering generators, fuel, bottled water, warm meals and other necessary supplies to facilities so they can resume treating patients as soon as possible.
• Supplying motor homes filled with personal supplies and generators to employees who lost homes or whose homes are not safe to occupy, so they can be there for patients.

“At FMCNA, we strongly adhere to our disaster preparedness motto: We prepare in advance so we can respond quickly when disaster hits,” said Dr. Babajide Salako, director of Global Pandemic Response Operations, FMCNA. “FMCNA’s resources and national partnerships give us the ability to coordinate the delivery of resources from across the country to any locale within hours of a disaster.”

FMCNA also encourages patients to be prepared for emergencies and provides a checklist of important tips to help prepare for an emergency:

• Carry  up-to-date personal information with you at all times, including ID, medication and allergy lists, insurance, emergency contact information, and type of dialysis treatment.
• Create a disaster kit with emergency supplies and at least one extra three-day supply of medicines
• Store a three-day supply of food based on their emergency meal plan.

For more information, visit www.UltraCare-Dialysis.com.

Winter Weather Tips

J.W. Thaxton
Gwinnett County Office of Emergency Management

What are you doing to prepare for approaching winter weather? County residents depend on emergency response personnel and healthcare providers regardless of the outside environment. It is imperative we build our capabilities and plan for winter weather. In building our resources locally, we must not forget that our personnel are critical. Ensuring that staff are personally prepared in order to continue functioning in their role as emergency responders or healthcare providers is fundamental. As a key player in the safety of our residents, please take time to ensure you and your family are prepared for winter weather. Information regarding personal preparedness for you and your family can be found at http://www.ready.gov/winter-weather

Gwinnett County Government is taking steps to ensure our emergency responders are prepared. In December, the Office of Emergency Management hosted a Winter Weather Workshop to collaborate with departments on their needs, concerns, and capabilities. Additionally, Gwinnett County prepared for winter weather throughout 2012. A few highlights include:

• Gwinnett County Police purchased 100 extra road barriers to assist with traffic control
• Gwinnett Health and Human Services has identified transportation assets to assist senior citizens
• A Debris Management Plan, which details how Gwinnett County will remove debris from roadways during severe weather events, was developed and exercised.

Recognizing severe weather often presents increased service demands. The Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services understands this trend and is prepared. Plans are in place for off-duty personnel to be called in to assist with emergencies during high-call volume events. Often extra Engines and Ambulances are staffed prior to an anticipated event.

How can your organization proactively prepare for increased service demands related to winter weather?

Stay Well this Winter!

Cathy Clark
Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments

Winter is here, and there are many things you can do to prevent spreading illnesses among family, friends and co-workers. Two of the most common types of winter infections are respiratory and gastrointestinal illness. Most common respiratory illnesses are spread by cough, sneezing or unclean hands.  The most common gastrointestinal illness is the highly contagious norovirus. It causes acute GI illness including diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain which typically last 24 to 48 hours. Norovirus is spread quickly from person to person or contact with surfaces touched by ill persons. It can also be spread by eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with norovirus.  More severe illness can occur in young children and older adults. Here are some tips to help you stay well!

Prevention Methods:

• Get Vaccinated! This is the single best way to protect against the flu each season.
• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. To reach 20 seconds, sing the tune “happy birthday” twice while washing.
• If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. Keep bottles of hand gel at your desk or in your car for frequent hand cleansing. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not as effective with norovirus.
• Avoid close contact with sick persons.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

If you are ill, you can help stop the spread of illness by doing the following:

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Discard used tissues in a waste basket.
• If a tissue is not available, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.
• Stay home from school, work, and errands when you are sick.
• Self-isolate at home, away from well family members.
• Do not prepare food for others for three days after recovery from GI illness.  Wash your hands thoroughly prior to food preparation and after using the restroom.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces thoroughly after episodes of diarrhea or vomiting. The best cleaner is a 1:10 diluted bleach-based household cleaner (mix ¼ cup bleach to 2 ¼ cups of water). Wash laundry thoroughly with detergent for the longest cycle time available.

Regional/Local Tornado Exercise

Michele McMahon
Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments

On March 4 and 5, the Health Department Office of Emergency Preparedness, along with other local healthcare organizations, will participate in a full-scale severe weather (tornado) exercise.

The first day (March 4) the National Weather Service and GEMA will provide communications to develop the scenario. The second day (March 5) various organizations will participate in the exercise as either working at a facility that was “hit” by the tornado or working in cooperation to receive a surge of incoming patients as a result of a tornado touchdown in their area.

For the past year, regional healthcare facilities, agencies and community partners have been represented at the exercise planning meetings and are participating in the 2012-2013 Regions D & N Healthcare Community Emergency Preparedness Exercise Program. The University of Georgia College of Public Health has been leading the planning meetings leading up to the Full Scale Exercise on March 5^th.

Locally, some of the healthcare organizations who are participating in the regional exercise include: Gwinnett Medical Center, Gwinnett Extended Care Center, Eastside Medical Center, Rockdale Medical Center, Westbury Health and Rehabilitation Center, Newton Medical Center, Newton Medical Center EMS, and Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments. Various facilities will participate in the exercise as either having their facility as being hit by the tornado or receive a surge of incoming patients as a result of a tornado touchdown in their area. Either way, it should be an exciting and eventful day with many lessons learned.