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| Updates for Massachusetts Top |
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Mass. AG calls for probe into response to storm 
Boston.com - Nov 2 - Attorney General Martha Coakley is calling for an investigation into the response by utilities to the late October snowstorm. Coakley said Wednesday that her office has received a number of complaints regarding the power restoration process by utilities. Click here to read more. |
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Haiti SERG Initiative
The Haiti earthquake disaster of January 12, 2010 had a significant impact in Massachusetts.It particularly affected several community health centers whose staff and patients are of Haitian descent. At the request of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), the the League assessed needs, acted as a liaison between health centers and MDPH, and disseminated timely and accurate information including a specific resource page on the League website. The League collaborated with MDPH to support health center and community-based efforts to those affected by the earthquake. In July 2011, Massachusetts was the recipient of funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), one of three national recipients, to continue efforts to address the mental health needs of those affected by the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Together with the League, MDPH contracted with nine (9) community health centers serving Haitian and Haitian-American patients to continue this important endeavor to help the Massachusetts Haitian community to continue on the path of wellness and to thrive. As part of this initiative, BU Medical Center is providing a series of emergency response trainings with a focus on disaster relief. BU Medical Center has offered to open up these trainings to all health center staff that might be interested in attending. Please see more details under Disaster Relief Trainings.
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NACHC Asks CHCs to Share their Emergency Response Experiences
NACHC - Oct 20 - The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is currently collecting and sharing the experiences of health centers in emergency response to help build the buy-in at other CHCs. NACHC would like you to share your stories of your health center in disaster prep, response, or recovery in any form (print, video, pictorial). It is so important to catalogue and share this information with each other on every level.
If you would like to share your story, please email Mollie Melbourne, Director of Emergency Management, at mmelbourne@NACHC.COM
Here is an one story that highlights Access Family Care's response to the Tornado Joplin:
Missouri Foundation for Health - here is a wonderful video that from the Missouri Foundation for Health. Please note that Dr. Bentlage is the Medical Director from Access Family Care, a FQHC that played an important role in the medical response to the tornado Joplin.
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A State-by-State Look at Effects of October Snowstorm
Associated Press - Nov 2 - A state-by-state look at some of the effects of the late October storm that shocked the Northeast during the weekend with up to 32 inches of snow. About 1.6 million people were still without power Tuesday, and at least 25 deaths, including one in Canada, were blamed on the storm through traffic accidents, electrocutions or other causes. Click here to read the full article.
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FEMA Implementing Fraud Prevention Training, Lowering Improper Payments, Deputy Says
HS Today - Oct 21 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has begun to provide all of its personnel with training on the prevention of fraud and has significantly lowered its rate of improper payments since Hurricane Katrina, the FEMA deputy chief told a Senate panel Thursday. Click here to read more.
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Obama Touts Aid for Emergency Service Workers
HS Today - Oct 21 - Heralding a splash of good news on jobs, President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised companies that have promised to hire 25,000 veterans or military spouses within two years, calling it a sign of patriotism and business savvy. He pushed his economic agenda anew to a military audience and to firefighters, with first lady Michelle Obama at his side for one of his stops. Click here to read more.
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FEMA Honors Achievement in Community Preparedness 2011 Individual and Community Preparedness Awards Winners Announced
Citizen Corps- Oct 19 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Awards. Winners were selected in thirteen categories of awards, and a special award was presented to the late John D. Solomon, founder of the blog In Case of Emergency, Read Blog, http://incaseofemergencyblog.com/. The Awards, previously known as the Citizen Corps Achievement Awards, recognize accomplishments that took place during the award period of January 1, 2010 through June 1, 2011. They recognize the innovative practices and achievements of organizations and individuals that work to make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to manage any emergency situation.
Click here to see a complete list of this year's winners.
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| Public Health Advisories Top |
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State Health Officials Warn Residents of Carbon Monoxide and Electrical Hazards Following Winter Storms
EOHHS - Oct 31 - Many residents who have lost power following this weekend's snowstorm are seeking alternative sources of heat and electricity. The operation of gasoline, oil or other combustible fuel electrical generators produces carbon monoxide which poses an extreme health hazard if used indoors without proper ventilation. Residents are urged to take extreme caution to avoid injury or death from carbon monoxide poisoning and electrical hazards during this time. Click here to see the full advisory.
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November 9th - Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System
FCC & FEMA - Nov 4 - On November 9, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time1 (EST), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The purpose of the test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the EAS as a way to alert the public of national emergencies. Please click here to read the full public notice.
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Clinical Measles Alert
EOHHS - Oct 18 - It is evident that measles continues to circulate in Massachusetts. Since January 1, 2011, there have been 24 cases of measles confirmed in Massachusetts, compared to three cases for all of 2010. Nineteen of these cases have occurred since May 1. The most recent case developed a rash on 10/6/2011 and resulted in hundreds of people being exposed, including many healthcare workers. Click here to see the full alert.
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Wegmans Recalls Pine Nuts Over Salmonella Concerns
HS Today - Oct 28 - Turkish pine nuts sold in bulk at Wegmans, an upscale grocery store chain, have been linked to a salmonella outbreak that sent two people to hospitals and sickened 40 others in five East Coast states and Arizona. Click here to read the full article.
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Flu Update for Massachusettsby Donna Lazorik, MDPH
MDPH - Nov 02 - IAC's online "Ask the Experts" Q&A section about influenza vaccine and disease was recently updated with input from vaccine experts at CDC.
To access the revised influenza Q&As, go to: www.immunize.org/askexperts/experts_inf.asp
To access the index page of "Ask the Experts" Q&As for all other vaccines, go to
www.immunize.org/askexperts
Lancet Infectious Diseases Publishes Article on Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness; Public Health Groups Respond - On October 25, Lancet Infectious Diseases published an article titled "Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis." This report found that influenza vaccines can provide moderate protection against confirmed influenza illness, but that protection can be lower--sometimes substantially so--in some influenza seasons. Click here to read the article abstract. American Nurses Association Launches Campaign to Increase Influenza Vaccination Rates - The American Nurses Association (ANA) has launched its 2011- 2 seasonal influenza campaign, "Unite to Fight the Flu." The campaign reflects the recommendation for everyone age six months and older to get vaccinated against influenza and encourages nurses to become leaders and role models in promoting this safe and effective disease-prevention strategy. More information is available at: MDPH at http://www.mass.gov/flu
Boston Public Health Commission at http://www.bphc.org/flu
CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/flu
WHO at http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html
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CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response Online Training Resources
CDC - The CDC Resource Page features scheduled and on-demand emergency preparedness and response training resources offered by federal agencies and COCA partners. Click here to access their Resources Page.
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Presidential Policy Directive 8
PPD-8 - Oct 31 - The US Department of Homeland Security just released National Preparedness (PPD-8) which describes the Nation's approach to preparing for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to the security of the United States. National preparedness is the shared responsibility of our whole community. Every member contributes, including individuals, communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and Federal, state, and local1 governments. We describe our security and resilience posture through the core capabilities that are necessary to deal with great risks, and we will use an integrated, layered, and all-of-Nation approach as our foundation. Click here to access an online copy of this report.
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| Training and Education Top |
Disaster Behavioral Health Trainings
Boston University Medical Center contracted with MDPH in the Haiti SERG Initiative to continue efforts to address the mental health needs of those affected by the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Through this collaboration, BU Medical Center is providing a series of emergency response trainings to the nine health centers contracted in this project. BU Medical Center has offered to open up these trainings to all health center staff that might be interested in attending. Trainings will take place on a monthly basis up until March/April. Please see details on the scheduled trainings for November and December.
Fundamentals Training Components: Phases of Disaster Psychological First Aid Self Care Dates: Dec 9; 9:00AM - 12:00 PM - Follow up Training of PFA 202 Location: Boston Medical Center, 85 East Newton Street, Boston MA 02118 Audience: Grant contracted Health Center Staff, Alternate Health Center Staff, & Community Partners
Please RSVP the number of attendees from your site to Shamaila Khan, PhD (Email) Shamaila.khan@bmc.org (Ph) 617-414-2025
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PEER On-line Training Resources Available on HHAN or WebEOC
Are you looking for a refresher on the HHAN or WebEOC, or do you need to introduce this technology to a new staff person? The PEER website includes links to brief web-based training videos for PEER, HHAN and WebEOC at http://sph.bu.edu/otlt/peer/trainings.php. Each video is approximately 10 minutes long. Also available at this link are written materials that can be printed and retained for reference, and links to the sites for HHAN and City of Boston WebEOC. As the MA DPH WebEOC system becomes available, this material will be updated to include that system.
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AHIP Webinars - Effective Strategies to Promote Influenza Vaccine Uptake Among Culturally Diverse Populations
AHIP and its member companies are proud to collaborate with HHS, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) to increase seasonal influenza vaccination rates among culturally diverse populations and promote the 2011-2012 minority flu outreach campaign. On a live webinar November 10th from 1:00 - 2:30 PM, leading experts in vaccine safety and health care disparities at federal agencies and health plans will discuss the best practices at the local, regional and national level necessary to improve immunization rates among diverse groups especially among Hispanic/Latinos and African Americans, and within the communities that they live, work and play.
Click Here to Register!
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Upcoming Courses/Events by DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness
The DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness offers the following training opportunities for health centers in EP regions 3, 4 and 5 (Eastern Massachusetts):
- ICS 400 - Nov 9-10, 2011 at the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness
- Advanced Risk Communication - Nov 16 at Sturdy Memorial Hospital Auditorium, 211 Park Street, Attleboro, MA 02703
- All Hazards Disaster Response and Protection for Health Care Personnel Awareness - Various Dates
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Advanced Risk Communication Nov 16, 2011 at Sturdy Memorial Hospital, 211 Park Street, Attleboro, MA 02703
- All Hazards Disaster Response and Protection for Healthcare Workers - Operations - Dec 5-7 at the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness, 35 Northampton Street, Boston
- Applying the Incident Command System (ICS) to Your Healthcare Emergency Response - Nov 3 2011 at the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness, 35 Northhampton Street, Boston *NEW COURSE*
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Core Disaster Life Support® (CDLS®) Course Version 3.0 - Oct 27
at DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness, 35 Northampton Street, Boston *NEW COURSE*
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Medical Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) Events - Feb & March 2012 *NEW COURSE*
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Boston MRC Orientation and Entry to All MRC Training Courses - Various Dates
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Incident Command System and other MEMA Courses
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is offering multiple opportunities to attend ICS 200, 300 and 400 courses. Visit their website to register and click on the MEMA Calendar (if this link does not work, please email MEMA.Training@state.ma.us to inquire about these trainings).
- ICS 300 - Nov 28 - Southborough Fire Department
- ICS 200 - Dec 15 at MEMA Region 3/4 Training Room
- ICS 400 - Dec 19 at Southborough Fire Department
Visit their website at http://mematraining.chs.state.ma.us/TRS/ for more details.
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CEEPET Upcoming Courses
Upcoming courses being offered at The Center of Excellence for Emergency Preparedness Education and Training(CEEPET) / UMass Medical School for Western and Central Massachusetts:
Continuing education credits are available: CEUs are available for nursing, OEMS cont. ed credits are available for EMS personnel. Register for these courses by visiting the CEEPET Course Calendar Webpage.
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The League would like to welcome Margaret (Maggie) Brennan as the new CEO of North Shore Community Health, Inc., we look forward to working with you!
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Nov 9 - Health Law Advocates' 16th Annual Benefit Breakfast, Boston Nov 10 - South Boston CHC's Harbor of Hope Auction Nov 17 - Kenneth B. Schwartz Center Compassionate Healthcare Dinner Nov 18 - MA Assn of Health Plans Conference "Payment Reform: Putting the Promise into Practice" Nov 19 - Whittier St. HC's Benefit Gospel Concert Dec 2-3 - CHC Board Member Symposium For more details and other health center events, visit http://www.massleague.org/Calendar/Calendar.php.
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| If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.
Tina Wright, Project Coordinator - EM & PI
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
40 Court Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
617-426-2225 ext. 231
twright@massleague.org
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