The Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Emergency Preparedness Planning Guide helps planners integrate the needs of migrant and seasonal farm workers into existing emergency preparedness planning efforts. Ready-to-use checklists outline essential steps to take when working with migrant and seasonal farm workers during all phases of an emergency.
Evaluating Preparedness
The combined efforts of the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Chicago Health System Coalition for Preparedness and Response produced a toolkit to introduce Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) policy and guidance in a usable format for hospitals and health facilities. The step-by-step process in the toolkit is intended to help hospitals design, implement, and evaluate emergency exercises for health facilities following the HSEEP format.
Recent tragedies such as the Haiti earthquake, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and September 11th have demonstrated that minorities suffer disproportionately during all stages of a disaster. Acknowledging that culturally and linguistically competent care can help mitigate health disparities, the U.S.
Hurricane Ike damaged or destroyed 70% of Galveston, Texas’ residential and commercial buildings when it struck the barrier island in September 2008. Pre-storm poverty levels and poor health and social indicators made it challenging for community members to bounce back quickly. In the post-storm political and planning environment, decision makers were afforded the opportunity to address social determinants of health and the impact of policies on health.
The Community Connectors program is a model for how emergency response planners can develop relationships and open lines of communication with diverse members of their community prior to an emergency. Multnomah County Health Department used an internal resource to conduct this program: staff who had already established relationships with an underserved community and were willing to strengthen the relationship between the community and the health department.
Columbia University's Emergency Preparedness Toolkit provides streamlined information, tools, and templates to encourage continuity of operations planning for Community Health Centers (CHCs) from start to finish. The toolkit provides readable information on key areas of preparedness, including CHC roles, a probable planning cycle, local hazard assessments, resource and capacity assessments, how to develop an emergency plan, staff training tips, and guidance on how to conduct exercises and evaluations.
An expansive web site created by the Public Health-Seattle & King County Advanced Practice Center describes a collaboration between the health department and community-based organizations to prevent diverse groups from being disproportionately affected during an emergency. The web site is divided into sections that guide users through preparing for the communications needs of at-risk populations. The "Planning" section includes information on organizing a team, defining populations, and developing a strategic action plan.
The Public Health Emergency Exercise Toolkit was developed by the Columbia University School of Nursing to guide local public health agency staff in conducting emergency drills and exercises. The overarching goals of the toolkit are to aid local public health planners in 1) developing, implementing, and evaluating emergency drills and exercises, and 2) facilitating the public health aspects of larger, multiagency emergency exercises.
Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, and Group Homes (MD)
The Montgomery County (MD) Advanced Practice Center developed the Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities and Group Homes to provide preparedness guidance for healthcare facilities. This interactive checklist, which poses a range of questions, is designed to ensure that healthcare facilities are well-prepared and also able to shelter in place and remain self-sufficient during a variety of emergencies. This tool is designed to assist in:
Several organizations in northeast Minnesota held a day-long workshop to encourage preparedness among members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. The health department and its emergency management partners conducted a mass dispensing site exercise that involved 8 activities: parking at one location, busing to the dispensing site, greeting, sorting/triaging, screening, medication/dispensing, questions, and busing back to the parking location.
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