Monday, July 27, 2009

A correction and explanation...

A colleague commented that the Project Public Health Ready has been an ongoing process for several years. This is a true statement, I should have clarified that the PPHR is a new effort here in Virginia where we intend to have all 35 health districts certified over the next three years.

I do believe that the PPHR effort will be a significant label for local health departments in the future. Any effort to document the quality of services provided by health departments is invaluable to the jurisdiction(s) served and the general public.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Back ups...

In modern times we are so dependent and reliant on rapid communications. Irecently moved into an area that cannot provide high speed net access, cell coverage is spotty and signal strength is low. We all need work arounds and I have been wireless for phone service for several years. I always have a spare hard drive that is up-to-date with the major portions of the work that is ongoing. I have a large capacity thumb drive that has all the emergency plans and all the ready reference materials for the district. I also have a thumb drive that is built for portable aqpplications since the health department has rtestricted installs of unsupported software. I use evernote, prefer firefox and need conversions and related calculators for everything from radiation dose to square footage.

Having enough back up space also alows for the movement of some nice to have things such as music, in my case about 185 gig that I take to one of the three offices that I work at...all I need now is a set of keys to the local health district office...yet to come, but I have confidence.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Ongoing saga...

Three of the regional planners are involved in the preparation of paperwork for Project Public Health Ready. I got a subscription notice from the Health Alert Network where one of them posted her documents. I really appreciate that since in a couple of years it will be my turn to apply. The continuous improvement of public programs depends on the development of good tools and techniques, and that takes the collective brain power....

So, next week I will begin the review of those documents to see how they compare to my own. There will be adjustments for local conditions, but my colleague has always had a good perspective on the needs of the environment where she lives.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Documentation always needs to be done.

So, as part of the CDC grant requirements, we actually need to complete a series of exercises and training. The real bitch about it is that you can be really good at providing the training to staff, getting the exercises done and be a benefit to the community. The hardest part is adequately documenting all the effort so that the bean counters and eggheads can say it was done.

For many years public health department have completed mass medication/vaccination efforts. With the implementation of NIMS and the needs to let everyone else speak our language and us to speak theirs, we have needed to change the way we do things. For the seasonal influenza program for this year, I have had to covince the nursing staff to use the ICS forms, to document the planning efforts toward the event and to use the EP&R materiel. We get a two-fer. They get all the vaccinations out of the way in one mass clinic and we get to count the event as an exercise. From my services day: Train the way you fight and fight the way you train....

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Technical Assistance changes

For several years the CDC has utilized a document called the Local Technical Assistance Review (LTAR) for the evaluation of jurisdictions served under the Cities Readiness Initiative. We have seen continuing professionalization of the document and the proofs required to demonstrate the accomplishments.

Additionally, the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) has developed the Project Public Health Ready program, designed to certify states or local health districts as prepared. This new program is relatively soft, but will no doubt develop some teeth as it evolves and more districts/states take the program seriously.

I have completed gap analyses for the programs and have some issues to overcome. Primarily, I believe the public health service paradigm must shift to support the changing definition of service in emergencies.

I embrace these changes. The ability to demonstrate to the public (in the final analysis) that we are providing a real return on the investment is critical. The technical aspects of the planning process may appear wasteful until the hurricane, the ice storm or the less likely anthrax attack occurs.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

A change in direction

I had started this blog in order to share thoughts on a variety of issues that interest me. I really have not paid quite so much attention to that so I thought that I would capture my work thoughts, to better remind me and perhaps be helpful to others on some problem solving related to emergency planning. I am more likely to make entries is I think of it as a requirement for my job.... we shall see.