|
|
|
Welcome to the The Readiness Dispatch. This newsletter is used for updates and information about the Emergency Credentialing Program and the Medical Reserve Corps. |
 The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response unveils a new logo for the national, state and local Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals program (ESAR-VHP). This logo will further help unify the various ESAR-VHPs around the nation.
|
 |
 On April 23, 2010, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a major disaster exists in the state of Connecticut and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas struck by severe storms and flooding which began on March 12th and continues.
Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Fairfield, Middlesex, and New London.
You can help make a difference in such emergencies. Enroll in the State of Connecticut Emergency Credentialing Program or the Medical Reserve Corps at the Yale New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness. Join for yourself. Join for your family. Join for your community. Please visit www.ct-esar-vhp.org or www.mrc-ynh.org, or call (203) 688-3224. |
|
 |
Over 30 representatives of MRCs and health departments came together at Connecticut Hospital Association's facility to discuss the statewide integration of MRCs and health departments. Mary Grace Duley, the Hospital Preparedness Program Coordinator and the ESAR-VP/MRC Coordinator from the CT Department of Public Health, spoke to the group about the benefits of partnering for both the MRCs and the health departments as the move toward a regional response approach continues. There were presentations by Ken Kellogg, of the Westport, Weston, Wilton MRC, who described his MRC's response to the H1N1 outbreak in his area and Melissa Marquis and Maryann Cherniak-Lexius, of the Capitol Region MRC and the Manchester Auxiliary MRC respectively, who spoke from their experience about the benefits of working together. The conference was a first step in bringing together the parties who will help to determine the best way to achieve the goal of an integrated regional response and will be followed up with planning and other activities to further the goal. For more information, please contact Lynn Egan at lynn.egan@ynhh.org or (203) 688-4482. |
 |
 The State of Connecticut Emergency Credentialing Program for Healthcare Professionals held its first ever statewide activation drill on April 15, 2010. The exercise, designed to evaluate a new activation protocol as well as test the knowledge of the program's acute care hospital contacts was centered on a mock mass casualty incident at Yale-New Haven Hospital. All 32 acute care hospitals participated in the exercise, which involved filling a request for volunteers of various specialties and professions from within their ECP volunteers and transmitting the rosters back to the ECP Coordinator. While the hospitals were given five hours to respond, 40% responded within two hours. This two hour timeframe is the expected response time in a real event.
The participant feedback demonstrated that the exercise went well but also indicated a number of areas for improvement. These suggestions are being implemented into an updated activation protocol and will be tested again in upcoming drills, which will become a required component of all exercises conducted in the state for the upcoming year. For more information, please contact Joseph Filakovsky, DNP, APRN, CCNS, FAHA at joseph.filakovsky@ynhh.org or (203) 688-4486. |
|
|
____________________________________________________________________________ |
Is your ECP or MRC profile current?
ECP and MRC volunteers are reminded that they should keep their contact information current. For questions, please call (203) 688-3224, or email ECP@ynhh.org or MRC@ynhh.org. |
| ______________________________________________________________________________________ | |
Copyright 2010. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.
The site and all information contained on it are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. YNHHSC makes no warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of information contained on the site or that the site will be error-free or available for uninterrupted use. No advice, results or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you from YNHHSC through the site shall create any warranty. |
|
|
