October 2021 Newsletter
Welcome Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition Newsletter
October 2021
As a valued partner of the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition (VHEPC), you will receive this bi-monthly newsletter highlighting coalition business, upcoming events and preparedness resources. As a reminder, we recommend that you bookmark the VHEPC website calendar and check it often. We are continually curating the calendar with meetings, trainings and exercises.
Our Mission
Our coalition is a multi-disciplinary partnership collaborating with our members, stakeholders, and surrounding communities to improve and expand emergency preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities. The VHEPC works with healthcare entities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies in the state of Vermont.
VHEPC Wraps Up First Reporting Quarter
September 31, 2021 marked the end of quarter one for the VHEPC. A very big THANK YOU goes out to all of the coalition members for their active participation in helping the coalition have a successful first quarter
. A few notable milestones were the completion of the Hazard Vulnerability Analysis and Redundant Communications Drill/RACES Radio Drill.
Photo Credit: Tengyrt via Unsplash
Preparing for a Burn Surge
Preparing for any medical surge is a critical part of healthcare. This year, Vermont is focusing on Burn Surge planning. A burn surge can be triggered by any disaster that causes an increase in patients needing specialized burn care. Having a burn surge plan in place lays the foundation for effective and efficient patient care and treatment when time is of the essence. Burn surge plans should be exercised and revised regularly to ensure they are accurate and meet the ever changing needs of each facility. Below are some resources that can be used to plan, write, and exercise for a burn surge.
PLAN:
The first step to having a solid burn surge plan is to gather background information and identify the needs of a facility. This overview provides a framework and guidance for healthcare coalitions, burn centers, state public health preparedness professionals, healthcare facilities, and other stakeholders planning for a burn surge event.
WRITE:
Planning for a burn surge is just the beginning. Without a written plan in place, facilities lack guidance to pull from when the needed moment arrives. The following guidance is provided for healthcare coalitions in the development of their burn surge annex.
EXERCISE:
After a plan has been written, it should be exercised to find strengths and/or gaps that need to be modified. A tabletop exercise is an excellent way to evaluate the newly written burn surge plan. This burn surge tabletop exercise template by ASPR TRACIE is a starting point for building your tabletop exercise.
VHEPC Burn Surge Resources
VHEPC Burn Surge Tabletop Exercise Registration
February 17, 10:00AM to 12:00PM
2021 Northeast Region Burn Conference Applications. Deadline to apply for attendance sponsorship is October 8, 2021.
HHS Maternal-Child Health Emergency Planning Toolkit Released
The recently released Health and Human Services (HHS) Maternal-Child Health Emergency Planning Toolkit was developed by the HHS/Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) At-Risk Individuals Program with the goal of better preparing MCH populations for emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation activities. Those populations included in MCH (as it relates to this document) are women who are pregnant, postpartum, and/or lactating; infants (0-12 months); and young children (1-5 years). The MCH population faces unique vulnerabilities during times of disaster that require special attention. This may be in the form of preparing safe sleep options for infants and their families, providing developmentally appropriate healthy food options, or easily accessible medical records for continued prenatal or well-baby visits. While the challenges are numerous, with proper preparedness and mitigation techniques, trained responders, and targeted recovery work, public health can work together collaboratively to keep moms, infants, and young children safe and healthy during disasters.
The toolkit is broken down into three sections corresponding to the preparedness, response, and recovery phases of the emergency management cycle. It is here that health care and social service providers and community health workers can find information on how best to manage the MCH population during each phase.
Information within the toolkit includes:
• Advice from professionals in the field
• Personal emergency kit and region wide stockpile preparedness instructions
• Guidance on how to ensure continuity of operations during each phase
• Recommendations for implementation of best practices
• Case studies with real-life examples
• Extensive resource lists of organizations that can assist within each phase of disasters
• Considerations for actions in various emergency scenarios
The toolkit is presented through the lens of three different, yet equally important, frameworks:
• The life-course approach- this recognizes the importance of preventing and controlling diseases from preconception through death. The life-course approach also recognizes that Social Determinants of Health can affect the health of a life from before it was conceived through its aging years.
• Social Determinants of Health- conditions in the environment that can affect the quality of life, particularly in vulnerable populations such as infants and young children.
• Trauma-informed approach to MCH- recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and stress on a human and explores potential paths for recovery.
The toolkit works these frameworks into all recommendations and best practices, striving to create equity for all populations and an environment of “consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals” during disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
VHEPC Announcements and Upcoming Events
Photo Credit: AbsolutVision via Unsplash
NEW National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Webinar Series
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will also be hosting 5 additional webinars focused on Evolving Crisis Standards of Care and Ongoing Lessons from COVID-19.
This new webinar series will kick off on September 27, 2021 from 12PM to 2PM. Speakers will re-explore previous crisis standards of care recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, in light of ongoing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on disaster planning, legal and equity considerations, and staffing considerations.
All Clear Webinar Series
All Clear is offering a new series of FREE webinars to assist organizations with their emergency preparedness needs. Check out the upcoming offerings here. The 30- minute webinars are offered to anyone interested in taking their Emergency Preparedness Program to the next level.
An Introduction to Planning – October 13, 3:30PM EST
Effective plans convey not only the goals and objectives of the intended operation, but also the actions needed to achieve them. Join us as we discuss the different types of plans that could be best suited for your organization.
Planning Best Practices – November 2, 2:00PM EST
All Clear believes in practical plans that are actually usable in an emergency and in the benefits of a comprehensive planning process. We also understand that plan writing can seem insurmountable. Join us as we discuss best practices to get your plan writing moving!
VDH Crisis Standards of Care Workshop in a Box
The Vermont Department of Health created a “Workshop in a Box“ to assist facilities in exercising the Vermont Department of Health Crisis Standards of Care Plan.
All workshop materials and more information can be found on the VHEPC website.
VHEPC Recovery Tabletop Exercise
Registration is open for the Resilient Recovery Tabletop Exercise on October 21 from 10:00AM to 12:30PM.
This exercise will be taking place during our full coalition meeting and all members are invited to participate! In lieu of the meeting, we'll be creating a VHEPC Update sheet that will have upcoming events and information we'd usually share at the meeting.
Situation Manual will be distributed to registrants on Monday, October 18th.
EMSC/VHEPC Pediatric Case Review
The monthly pediatric case review will be held October 26 from 7:00PM to 8:00PM
The discussion will be focused on pediatric cases related to cultural concerns and challenges.
Contact Us
Kate Hammond, Coalition Chair
802-373-2207
Kate.Hammond@uvmhealth.org
Tim McAdoo, Coalition Co-Chair
802-485-3161
tmcadoo@mayohc.org
Pamela Corbett, Coalition Secretary
802-251-2127
Pamela.Corbett@vermont.gov
Jim Holway, Member at Large
802-391-8849
jholway@livingwellgroup.org
Deborah Wesley, Member at Large
802-388-7259
dwesley@achhh.org
Jennifer Bynum, Readiness and Response Coordinator
919-717-3355
vhepc@allclearemg.com
Hannah Becht, Assistant Readiness and Response Coordinator
478-973-8090
vhepc@allclearemg.com