Montgomery County Health Department Board of Health Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 Montgomery County Health Department Board of Health Meeting Minutes Human Services Center, Board Room, Norristown, PA Tuesday November 20, 2012 MEMBERS PRESENT STAFF PRESENT Ross Weiss, Esquire (Chair) Julie Paoline Dawn Batman Bruce Goodman-Silver, MD Kevin Smith Kalyn Roberts Damian Dachowski, DMD Janet Gribosh Kyle Schmeck Dr. Joseph M. DiMino, Director of Health Tammy Tarloski Jessica Willingham I. Report of the Chairperson The meeting was called to order at 2:48pm. Mr. Weiss requested a motion to approve the minutes from the September meeting. Motion was made by Dr. Silver, seconded by Dr. Dachowski. All members were in agreement. II. Report of the Director A. Administration No update at this time. B. Bioterrorism/Emergency Management A year-end list of ongoing activities was summarized for the Board. Participate monthly in 800 megahertz radio drills Attend various monthly/quarterly meetings such as the Hospital Emergency Support Zone, Southeast Task Force, ESF-8 Public Health Subgroup, BioWatch and the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council Exercise quarterly with staff and conduct telephone call-down drills Currently interviewing for a third Public Health Planner Staffed the Wyncote apartment fire recovery center Attend video-conference trainings through the Drexel University training system (e.g. Outbreak Investigations for the Non-Epidemiologist and Environmental Consequences of Disasters) Planning for regional exercises o Spring 2013 full-scale weather exercise with the hospitals o Fall 2014 MSA-wide with the 5 SEPA counties, NJ, DE and Cecil County, MD Hurricane Sandy October 26 - November 2, 2012 Montgomery County Health Department s summary of events The Montgomery County Health Department (MCHD) was requested to attend a briefing on October 26, 2012 at 2:00pm for a planning session at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) for the pending storm. The meeting was attended by C. Michael Baysinger MPH, Deputy 1

2 Director for Personal Health Services and Mary Heaton, Public Health Planner. During the meeting a review of the Incident Action Plan (IAP), including staffing, public information, communications and a review of the latest forecast from a number of sources. During this briefing it was agreed that MCHD would have a presence at the EOC. 10/26/2012: MCHD had a three person team that would work 3 8-hour shifts during the event. The MCHD Team for the EOC consisted of C. Michael Baysinger, Mary Heaton, and Mary Cushionbury. 10/26/2012: MCHD started to set into place all of its vaccine that is stored at three locations and used its emergency protocol for vaccine storage during power outages. 10/29/12: MCHD received a request from Community Health and Dental Health Center in Pottstown, requesting help to locating Storage for Vaccine with a generator backup. They tried several locations without any luck. MCHD contacted Mark Ross, Emergency Preparedness, HAP and the request was fulfilled by storing the vaccine at local fire company for the duration of the event. 10/29/12: MCHD was advised that Bryn Mawr and Lankenau Hospitals have only one electrical line of service. As per Mark Ross, HAP Emergency Preparedness - Lankenau Hospital has lost one of their two electrical feeds. One feed is handling all power needs. No unmet needs at this time. No emergency power use at this time. No information on when feed will be repaired. 10/30/12: MCHD received information that North Wales Water Authority had no power or backup generator. Afraid sewage will leak into Wissahickon Creek. MCHD contacted Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). DEP will follow up. 10/30/12: MCHD received call from an assisted living facility in Hatfield that is without power and has flooding on the first floor. Most residents have been temporarily placed with family members. Aging and Adult Services (AAS) is assisting the facility to place 4 residents; residents are ambulatory with assistance from walkers and require medication throughout the day. After consulting with EOC command, AAS and the facility s administrator were advised to take the residents to Grandview hospital as a last resort. AAS advised that they are currently researching the possibility of taking the four residents to either Montgomery County s Long Term Care facility or a Personal Care Home in Lansdale. MCHD received an update and all remaining residents will either stay at the assisted care facility or they will be taken to a Red Cross shelter at Norristown High School. 10/31/12: The Division of Environmental Field Services (EFS) conducted follow up post-storm activities. The staff made phone calls to all municipalities to check on the status of the licensed retail food facilities, including but not limited to flooding and sustained power outages. Staff drove around to known areas that flood and areas with known power outages. The EFS Division had 192 facilities closed because of the storm. The division had an Environmental Health Specialist stay in from the field and available to answer all phones calls concerning questions and openings of the facilities. All facilities are now open and operational. 11/1/12: A request from Public Safety, regarding MCHD generators at HSC. MCHD provided a total of 12 generators to Public Safety ( watt) and (6 8,000 watt) all Serial Numbers have been recorded by MCHD. MCHD request location, type generator (6500 or 8000) and Serial Number when being allocated for tracking purpose. 2

3 Dr. DiMino applauded the Department of Public Safety for the management of County emergencies. C. Personal Health Services Influenza Immunization Campaign MCHD began its Influenza/Pneumococcal/Tdap Immunization Campaign on September 29, MCHD has provided 4,132 influenza vaccinations at 7 community sites during this year s Campaign, which is only 55 less than Influenza immunizations are currently being administered by MCHD nurses at the 3 county health centers by appointment and walk-ins will begin in December. MCHD has also collaborated with the Montgomery County Immunization Coalition to administer 3,900+ flu vaccines to students and faculty at the Norristown Area School District this year. MCHD continues to provide influenza vaccination at various outreach sites throughout the County. Including vaccinating County employees, MCHD has administered a total of 9,181 flu vaccinations during this year s campaign. World AIDS Day 2012 The World Health Organization has designated December 1 st of each year as WORLD AIDS DAY in a worldwide effort to increase awareness, education and preventive actions to stop the transmission of the HIV virus and the spread of AIDS. This year s theme is GETTING TO ZERO meaning ZERO new HIV infections, ZERO discrimination, and ZERO HIV-related deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection. One in five (260%) of those people are unaware of their infection. Despite increases in the total number of people in the U.S. living with HIV infection in recent years, the annual number of new HIV infections has remained relatively stable. This year, MCHD will be observing WORLD AIDS DAY at Haverford College to promote awareness and to educate young adults on this infection. We will be offering free Rapid HIV testing, giving out red ribbons and other items to increase awareness, distributing condoms, and providing disease education both with persons one-on-one as well as in groups. West Nile Virus Surveillance (Human Cases) United States: As of November 6, 2012, 48 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. A total of 5,054 cases of West Nile virus disease in people, including 228 deaths, have been reported to CDC. Of these, 2,559 (51%) were classified as neuroinvasive disease (such as meningitis or encephalitis) and 2,495 (49%) were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease. The 5,054 cases reported thus far in 2012 is the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported to CDC through the first week in November since Almost 80 percent of the cases have been reported from 12 states (Texas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, South Dakota, Michigan, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado, Ohio, and Arizona) and over a third of all cases have been reported from Texas. 3

4 As of November Pennsylvania WNV Human Disease Update County No. Gender No. Age Distribution No. Syndrome No. Berks 1 Male 28 <18 1 West Nile Fever 22 Bucks 1 Female Encephalitis/Meningitis 26 Centre Chester Cumberland Dauphin 2 >80 5 Delaware 5 Erie 1 Franklin 1 Juniata 1 Lancaster 8 Lebanon 2 Lehigh 2 Luzerne 2 McKean 1 Monroe 1 Montgomery 6 Philadelphia 8 York 3 Note: 4 deaths have been reported to Pennsylvania Department of Health (1 Berks County, 1 Luzerne County and 2 Philadelphia County). Montgomery County: There are six confirmed human cases of West Nile Disease in Montgomery County: Abington (1), Lower Merion (1), Norristown Borough (1), Springfield (1) and Whitemarsh (2). D. Environmental Health Services West Nile Virus (WNV) Environmental mosquito surveillance and control activities officially ended on October 12, This year we had 169 positive mosquito pools; 2012 was a record high year in which over 1,000 samples were submitted for testing. In total, 775 mosquito pools were submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for testing and 169 were positive for WNV. MCHD department treated 271 publicly owned sites for mosquito breeding using various products. More than 230 West Nile Virus type complaints were investigated throughout Montgomery County this season. MCHD conducted 32 adult spray treatments, using a truck mounted ultra-low volume (ULV) sprayer in conjunction with an ATV. MCHD is in the process of applying for the 2013 WNV grant. 4

5 Hoffmansville Road VC Groundwater Contamination Site Update In June 2011, MCHD Water Quality Management (WQM) staff determined high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a private water supply in New Hanover Township. WQM presented the findings to the PA Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) who determined wide-spread groundwater contamination in the area. DEP continues to provide bottled water to approximately five affected residences with well water above drinking water limits for specific VOCs. Recently, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) developed lower inhalation standards for Trichloroethylene (TCE) which limits showering in homes with water above 50 ppb. Currently, EPA and DEP are overseeing installation of whole-house carbon filtration units on water supplies for the five homes including a small five-unit apartment complex. PADEP is still seeking long-term public water supply installation for residents in the area to resolve the matter. III. IV. Old Business New Business V. Next Meeting The next Board of Health meeting is Tuesday, January 15, 2013 in the Human Services Center, Board Room at 2:30 PM. The remaining meeting dates for 2013 are: Tuesday, March 19 th Tuesday, May 21 st Tuesday, September 17 th Tuesday, November 19 th Mr. Weiss requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Dr. Silver, seconded by Dr. Dachowski. All members were in agreement. Mr. Weiss adjourned the meeting at 3:35pm. 5