Leading from Preparedness Through Recovery - The 2012 ...

wednesday, May 23, 2012Session Descriptionssession DescriptionsSession 07: DRAT! (Disaster Readiness Actions forTeens) and North Minneapolis Tornado RecoveryPresenters: Nancy Carlson, BS, CFT, CFE; Michael Thomas, PsyD, LPTime: 1030-1145 hrsRoom: Governor’s AEFocus Area: Public HealthOn May 22, 2011, the worst tornado to hit Minneapolis in 30 yearspummeled the north side of Minneapolis in a high-poverty area with a highpercentage of rental property, multifamily homes, and subsidized (morethan 80% in some areas) housing. A Behavioral Health Recovery Committeewas developed, consisting of Hennepin County, City of Minneapolis, Healthand Family Support, North Point Center for Health & Wellness, and MNDepartment of Health (MDH), through grant funding by the MN Departmentof Human Services. Our focus was on youth recovery, since we knewthat in working with the children we would also help tornado-impactedfamilies and communities to recover. The MDH DRAT! Disaster ReadinessActions for Teens program was chosen as our vehicle for postemergencypreparedness education. DRAT! is a youth emergency preparedness trainingprogram specifically geared for tweens (ages 10-12) and teens with the goalof engaging, educating, and empowering youth to respond safely duringcritical incidents such as natural disasters, man-made incidents, publichealth emergencies, and school threats. The DRAT! program name and logowere determined by surveying MN youth aged 10-18 via word of mouth andwith an online Twitter and Facebook survey. A youth focus group was utilizedto review content and ensure that it connected with our population and metthe program goal of engaging, educating, and empowering youth to respondsafely during crises and disasters. The program contains six modules: WhyPrepare, Stay Safe, Make a Plan, Make a Kit, Stay Calm, and Celebration ofKnowledge. Our initial goal consisted of training 100 youth by providingfive 1½-hour training sessions to groups consisting of 25 tweens/teens. Wedetermined that due to the potentially traumatized and disaster-impactednature of our audience, we would focus mainly on the modules discussingmaking plans, staying safe, and staying calm. Our trainers consisted of alicensed mental health professional to teach the youth psychological firstaid (PFA) module teamed with a peer trainer for the preparedness content.This session will discuss the need for a youth focus in disaster recovery andreview: the DRAT! training modules; emergency preparedness kit; youthpsychological first aid training and Youth PFA card; our training plan andhow we adapted and implemented the program; effectiveness based ontrainer debriefing and participant evaluations; and next steps in youth andcommunity recovery and resilience building.Learning Objectives:u Describe how to use a youth emergency preparedness program as acommunity disaster recovery tool.u Discuss how to implement psychological first aid training for youth asa means to reduce disaster stress symptoms and encourage ongoingdaily stress reduction and healthy self-care behavior.u Assess the effectiveness of youth emergency preparedness planningin youth disaster behavioral health recovery and overall communityresilience building.Intended Audience: Certified counselors, emergency physicians, EMT/paramedics, healthcare executives, health education specialists, marriage& family therapists, medical administrators, morticians, nurses, physicians,psychologists, social workersSession 08: Medication Needs of Survivors with ChronicConditions to Prevent Deterioration During ShelteringPresenter: Charles Stewart, MD, EMDM, MPH(c)Time: 1030-1145 hrsRoom: Bayou ABFocus Area: Public HealthThe recent Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami, HurricanesKatrina, Ike, and Gustav, and the Indian Ocean tsunami have focused ourattention on the need for disaster preparedness and mitigation. Large cities,such as Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, and St. Louis, remain at high riskfor catastrophic loss of life from weather, earthquake, or man-made disaster.Such large-scale disasters affect every segment of society, though it is clearthat some segments are more vulnerable than others. Treatment of thepatient who is injured in a disaster is a well-considered part of the overallplans by the emergency manager and the medical community at large.Other populations, such as children, nursing home residents, prisoners,pregnant women, respirator-dependent patients, those on dialysis, the frailelderly, and chronically disabled individuals, have been identified in othervenues. Extensive research has been published on disasters, health caredisparities, and medically underserved populations, but little attention hasbeen paid to those with chronic diseases who will decompensate withouttheir medications or treatments. A major category of vulnerable childrenand adults includes those with chronic treatable illnesses such as diabetes,COPD, seizures, hypertension, heart disease, and even chronic painsyndromes. This population may normally lead productive lives with littleor no external signs of disability. Given a few days without their supportivemedication, however, they may require intensive care and consume preciousmedical resources. If these people are displaced abruptly from their home orworkplace, their medications may be left behind or destroyed in the disaster.We attempted to compile a list of medications that should be consideredfor those planning shelters or nonemergent care facilities in the wake of adisaster. What medications will urgent care providers (in shelters or similarsituations) need to provide these patients to prevent deterioration of theircondition? To create a meta-analysis, the authors reviewed literature from2000-2011 using the key words “chronic,” “disaster,” “disease management,”“planning,” and “preparedness.” Searches were performed using Google,Google Scholar, and PubMed for medications required in the first week ofsheltering in disasters.Learning Objectives:u Identify those chronic diseases that will require additional attention toprevent decompensation during sheltering operations.u Explain why prompt intervention in chronic disease care in shelteredpatients will decrease the burden on overtaxed medical resources.u List chronic disease medications that emergency planners shouldconsider in arranging stockpiles, caches, and deployment packages.362012 Integrated Training Summit