Who You Gonna Call? and Public Health Emergencies

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Melissa French
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1 Who You Gonna Call? and Public Health Emergencies THE 38TH ANNUAL AIRS I&R TRAINING AND EDUCATION CONFERENCE ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Lisa Koonin, DrPH, MN, MPH Director (Acting) Influenza Coordination Unit U.S. Centers for Disease Control May 23,

2 Agenda Types of emergencies Disasters and public health emergencies from A to Z A little bit about Zika virus Roles of Prior to an emergency During an emergencies Post-emergency/Recovery Creating key connections with public health Q and A 2

3 Types of public health emergencies Natural disasters and severe weather (hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornados, earthquakes) Biological attack/bioterrorism (anthrax) Infectious diseases (pandemic influenza, Ebola, Zika) Radiation emergencies Chemical emergencies 3

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5 1918 During the 1918 pandemic: Approximately 20% to 40% of the worldwide population became ill An estimated 50 million people died Nearly 675,000 people died in the United States 5

6 A 1918 Pandemic Today Would Exact a Horrible Toll 50% or more of those who become ill will seek medical care Severe Pandemic (1918-like) Illness Outpatient medical care Hospitalization ICU care Mechanical ventilation Deaths 90 million (30%) 45 million (50%) 9, 900,000 1,485, ,500 1,903,000 These projections are for the US and are based on the experience of the 1918 pandemic

8 Differences between most natural disasters and public health emergencies caused by pandemic flu Natural Disasters Short duration impact Varying recovery times Impact on physical infrastructure Usually local or regional in impact Can bring in resources from other areas Infectious Disease (flu pandemic) Long duration Long recovery No physical impact; profound human impact Healthcare resources surged May affect most/all of US at same time May disrupt continuity of function Won t be able to marshal outside resources 8

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11 Emergencies A (2009 Anthrax attacks) TO Z (2016 Zika Virus outbreak) 11

12 For more information on Zika

13 Important Steps to Prepare and Respond to Disasters and Public Health Emergencies Planning Response Recovery 13

14 What Can Centers Do Now? (Planning) Gather information about types of hazards and assess risks to center Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA) Identify ways to prevent hazards and reduce risks Establish a flexible disaster plan Plan to protect worker health Develop flexible leave policies Plan to maintain operations in light of absenteeism Test your plans! Engage state and local health departments for communications channels for outbreaks Response will be based on local conditions

15 Conduct a Business Impact Analysis A BIA identifies potential risks and predicts the consequences of disruption of business function Impacts can include: Increased expenses (e.g. overtime, outsourcing, relocation) Disruptive absenteeism Loss of infrastructure (electricity, internet, telephone) Delay or discontinuation of some provision of services Customer dissatisfaction Timing and duration of disruption 15

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17 Planning for Disruptive Absenteeism Understand your organization s usual absenteeism patterns Assess the level of absenteeism that may be disruptive to your operations Create a plan to monitor absenteeism as it escalates and take increasing actions as needed Prepare for higher employee absences from ill employees and/or ill family members - plan ways for essential business functions to continue. Consider teleworking and cross-training employees Develop a way to support remote operations (IT, supervision, record keeping)

18 Other Planning Elements Resource management (including alternative suppliers) Crisis communications Information technology support Employee assistance Establishing incident management 18

19 Response Continue to serve the community with services Balance the usual call types with the urgent emergency needs Protect the health of staff Use the worksite to educate staff Provide information that staff can take home to their families Ensure your center is connected and communicating with UWW and with 2-1-1s in your state 19

20 Key Roles of Centers during a Response: Get accurate and timely information Preserve continuity of function! Detect and notify local/state public health of unusual patterns Provide key messaging to community provided by public health Engage state and local health departments for communications channels for outbreaks Adjust processes to meet need of community during emergency Response will be based on local conditions

21 Recovery Pay attention to human needs employee assistance may be needed Evaluate your agency s response- how did it go? Be sure to document lessons learned and revise plans accordingly Reassess BIA Assess damage to infrastructure, processes, and finances Reach out to other community organizations Create supportive network with other centers and offer assistance if possible 21

22 Layered Solutions

23 THANK YOU! 23

Business Continuity and Crisis Management. Cardinal Health s Approach

Business Continuity and Crisis Management Cardinal Health s Approach Welcome We don t have ALL the answers Opportunity to share ideas Discussion around how we can work together to help prepare our communities,