Coordinating Radiation Emergency Response with Public Health Emergency

Coordinating Radiation Emergency Response with Public Health Emergency Response

Presenters • Chris Williams – Deputy Director, Office of Radiation Protection – Chris. williams@doh. wa. gov – 360 -236 -3213 • Shawn Roberts – Planning Section Supervisor, Office Emergency Preparedness & Response – Shawn. roberts@doh. wa. gov – 360 -236 -4033 • Ryan Brice – Columbia Generating Station Emergency Response, Office of Radiation Protection – Joshua. brice@doh. wa. gov – 509 -946 -0457

Objectives By the end of this presentation, all participants will: • Have increased their knowledge of how an All-Hazard Incident Management Team can be developed within a state agency to support Radiation response efforts. • Be able to describe at least one strategy for overcoming common barriers in coordinating Radiation Emergency Response with Public Health. • Be able to identify the benefits of coordinating Radiation Emergency Response with Public Health.

Washington State Department of Health Washington Poison Center Emergency Response Culture Federal Partners Agency Preparedness & Response Radiation Emergency Response Other Resources Local Jurisdictions

Emergency Response Culture Ø Public Health Improvement Partnership ØFoundational Public Health Services ØFoundational Programs & Capabilities ØEmergency Preparedness and Response (all-hazards)

Emergency Response Culture

Emergency Response Culture

Emergency Response Culture

Setting the Stage • So why would a state public health agency need an AHIMT? – Good Question

Setting the Stage • April 2013 a new Secretary of Health, John Wiesman, joined the agency. – Having a strong background and commitment to emergency preparedness, he pushed for a response focus. • May 2014 Basic Concepts of Strategic Plan – “transform our agency into being a first responder agency. ” – “Build Statewide response capability to support local jurisdictions. ”

Setting the Stage Purpose: Mission: Save lives and protect Strengthen all hazards preparedness the people of capabilities within DOH, Washington from the and support local, health threats of state, tribal, and disasters and public health emergencies. non-profit partners in preparing, responding, and recovering from the health impacts of disasters.

Defining the Need Source: KOMO News Source: KIRO TV Source: Associated Press

Key Considerations • Washington has 35 Local Health Jurisdictions. • Washington Law reserves significant authority for responding to public health threats for the Local Health Officer. • The State Department of Health may only intervene when invited or when, in the secretary’s informed opinion, the Local Health Officer is not or cannot act. • Statutory authority for Radiation is with the State Department of Health • So… Our response teams need to add value to Local Health Jurisdictions to be a good investment!

Complexity of a Public Health Event • • • Directly threaten human health and life Typically very long events requiring a written plan Often cross jurisdictional boundaries Highly political High levels of media involvement Solutions often require highly trained experts (e. g. Radiation Health Physicists, Infectious Disease Physicians, Epidemiologists, toxicologists, etc. )

The Policy Decision • Ultimately, our leadership team made the decision to invest in planning for, organizing, training, equipping, and exercising a team that: – Could provide command control of a public health event, at a type 3 level of complexity – Was at least 3 people deep in each of the Command General Staff positions – Could deploy in support of local partners (or perhaps others)

Setting the Stage: The How Maintains agency’s Incident Management Team (IMT), and expand participation to other agencies Establish agency level team for command control Build an integrated statewide response structure that accounts for home rule and diminished local resources

Public Health Incident Management Team • The philosophy is to help our agency, partner response agencies, or local/tribal health partners use proven Incident Command System (ICS) principles to successfully stabilize a public health incident and return it to the routine functions. • The DOH-IMT is available to any Agency Office or public health agency in Washington State • The team can either support an existing Incident Command System (ICS) structure, or can assume command of an incident if requested and so delegated.

Public Health Incident Management Team The Washington DOH IMT has led 7 Incidents and one Full-Scale Exercise in our agency and deployed in one real event and three exercises since January 2014.

The Operational Response Teams Epidemiology Task Force Environmental Public Health Strike Team Receipt, Stage, and Store (RSS) Task Force Public Health and Medical System Assessment Task Force • Construction Review Services (CRS) Task Force • Medical Countermeasures Dispensing Task Force • Additional teams under development • •

Training the Teams

Training the Teams • Required Courses – All response personnel have the same basic requirements: • • IS 100 IS 200 IS 700 IS 800

Training the Teams • Team Leadership – ICS 300 and 400 – Position Specific Training – Leadership Training • L-380 “Point of the Spear” • L-381 “Incident Leadership” – O-305 Type 3 Incident Management Training

Equipping the teams • Team Deployment Kit – Computers (Laptops or Surface Pros) – First Aid Kits – Portable 800 Mhz Radio – Office Supplies – Power cords – Flash lights – And More!!!

Equipping the teams • Personal Deployment Kits – The goal is to support all team members to work in a highly mobile and flexible environment.

All Hazards • As this team has worked to come up to speed, several other state agencies (Local Emergency Management, Local Health Departments, Department of Corrections, Emergency Management Division, Washington State Patrol, etc. ) have approach the team about our willingness to include others. – This is where the All-Hazards piece began to come about…

Partnerships • The value of partnerships cannot be understated in this process… – Internal, external, state, local, tribal, federal, etc. • The vast majority of success is in demonstrating to partners that the concept works and generating their commitment. • Sustainability depends on the strength of the partnerships involved.

Preparedness Cycle • The preparedness cycle provides a useful framework for organizing the work of building an AHIMT. • The preparedness cycle also serves as a useful concept when working with partners to align multiple processes that are inevitably underway. • The cycle also pushes for regular evaluation of the team and the processes that support the team.

Leadership • Focus, determination, and a clear vision are essential. • Communications and an ability to draw others into that vision and lead through influence is key. • Recognizing barriers as an opportunity for everyone involved to be creative and imaginative.

Coordination • Understanding where Public Health and Radiation Emergency Preparedness can be better integrated to bolster public messaging.

Get to Know the Poison Center • The Washington Poison Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit • Provides immediate, free expert treatment advice and assistance on the telephone in the case of exposure to poisonous, hazardous, or toxic substances • Phones answered by: Nurses, pharmacists and poison specialists with clinical expertise in managing poisonings and drug exposures

WAPC 2015 BY THE NUMBERS Translation support is available in over 150 languages, and there also resources to help with the deaf and hearing disabled. keeping people at home Over 38% 62, 732 calls of poison center users would have visited the ER or called 911 answered by 79, 000+ people Over 60 Medical were reached through Resi- dents, Fellows, Pharmacists, education efforts Paramedics trained by WAPC staff 92% of all household cases are @treated home at community programs and events WAPC Twitter followers increased 34%; Facebook increased 9% 49% of all calls concerned Every $1 spent on the Poison Center is a savings of $13. 39 a child under 6 years old

Radiation Emergency Response • Washington Poison Center Call Center Exercise

Questions

Contact Information • Chris Williams – Deputy Director, Office of Radiation Protection – Chris. williams@doh. wa. gov – 360 -236 -3213 • Shawn Roberts – Planning Section Supervisor, Office Emergency Preparedness & Response – Shawn. roberts@doh. wa. gov – 360 -236 -4033 • Ryan Brice – Columbia Generating Station Emergency Response, Office of Radiation Protection – Joshua. brice@doh. wa. gov – 509 -946 -0457