Greater Nashua Public Health Region Hazard Vulnerability Assessment
Greater Nashua Public Health Region Hazard Vulnerability Assessment Project Overview <ENTER DATE>
Objectives & Agenda • Provide an overview of the Greater Nashua Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) • Describe the HVA process • Describe regional HVA findings and our action plan • Describe how being involved in risk mitigation plan implementation will benefit your organization.
Origins of the HVA • 13 NH DHHSfunded regions • Public health, health care and behavioral health -focused HVA a part of scope of work.
Origins of the HVA • HPP and PHEP Capabilities • Define standards for health and public health system preparedness • HVA as foundational element • Collaborative process to reduce risk
Greater Nashua HVA: Goals • Assess hazard impacts on the health care, behavioral health, and public health systems • Staff, infrastructure that make up these systems as well as the people that use these systems. • Identify risk mitigation strategies that could reduce impacts from these hazards.
Desired End Result of HVA Hazards assessment: What are our highest risk hazards? Preparedness assessment: What are we good at? Where are our weak spots? Mitigation plan development: What can we do about it? Mitigation plan implementation Reduced risk
Steps to the HVA process • Step 1: Rate impact severity of 7 predetermined hazards • Step 2: Rate our region’s preparedness using the PHEP & HPP capabilities as a framework • Step 3: Develop risk mitigation action plan for our region
Greater Nashua HVA Participants • American Red Cross • AMR Ambulance • City of Nashua • • • Building Safety • • Environmental Health Department • • Public Health Department • • Police Department • • Welfare Department • Daniel Webster College • Dartmouth-Hitchcock • Greater Nashua Medical Reserve Corps • Greater Nashua Mental Health • Lamprey Health Care MIAMMO CERT Milford School District Northeast Rehab Hospital NH Division of Public Health Services Rivier Health Services Southern NH Medical Center St. Joseph’s Hospital The Courville at Nashua Town of Brookline Town of Merrimack, Police Department Town of Pelham, Fire Department Town of Wilton Walgreens
Which hazards were reviewed? • Hurricane • Flood • Winter Storm • Earthquake • Influenza Pandemic • Heat Wave • Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) - Likely to occur - Potential severity - Involve all aspects of response
How was risk defined? Hazard (Severity – Risk = x Probability Preparedness)
How do we measure impact? • 4 main categories • Human Impact & Service Demand • Health Care Infrastructure Impact • Community Impact • Public Health Infrastructure Impact
The Indicators - Examples • ED visits • Staffed beds available • Population displacement • Increases in lab test demand • Considerations for indicator selection: • Reflect hazard impact • Data available
How did we measure impact? • Compare available data from an “average” day to that from a “bad” day for each indicator • Qualitatively rate the severity of impact for each category for the region using pre-set scale • From one (1): very low to five (5): very high
Step # 1: Rating Impact Severity
Hazard Impacts for Greater Nashua Hazards Human Impact Interruption of & Service Health Care Demand Services Community Impact Public Health Infrastructure Impact Hurricane 3 3. 5 4 4 Flood 2 2 Winter Storm 3 2. 5 3. 5 4 Earthquake 5 5 Influenza Pandemic 5 5 4 5 Heat Wave 3 2 2 2 RDD 5 5
Greater Nashua Risk Assessment Findings 1 2 3 Hazard Severity of Impact – Rank Order Hazard Probability Risk Score Rank Order Flood 2 4 (High) 7 Winter Storm 3 3 (Medium) 6 Hurricane 4 2 (Low) 5 Earthquake 7 1 (Very low) 4 Heat Wave 1 3 (Medium) 3 Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) Influenza Pandemic 4 1 (Very low) 1
Step #2: Rating Preparedness
How did we measure preparedness? • Mitigation Capabilities • Community Preparedness • Community Recovery • Information Sharing
How did we measure preparedness? • General Response Capabilities • Emergency Operations Coordination • Emergency Public Information and Warning • Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions • Responder Safety and Health • Volunteer Management
How did we measure preparedness? • Medical Response Capabilities • Fatality Management • Mass Care • Medical Countermeasure Dispensing • Medical Materiel Management and Distribution • Medical Surge • Public Health Laboratory Testing • Public Health Surveillance and Epidemiological Investigation
Example Volunteer Management
Mitigation Capabilities Medical Response Capabilities Scenario Capability Score Changes Community Preparedness Community Recovery Information Sharing 3 Fatality Management 2. 5 3. 375 General Response Capabilities Capability Score Emergency Operations Coordination Emergency Public Information & Warning Mass Care 3. 7 Medical Countermeasure Dispensing 4. 0 Medical Materiel Management & Distribution 3. 6 Medical Surge 3. 1 3. 9 Public Health Laboratory Testing 3. 9 3. 8 Public Health Surveillance & Epidemiological Investigation 3. 5 Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions 3. 375 Responder Safety & Health 2. 625 Volunteer Scenario Changes 2. 5 Blizzard, hurricane, RDD =3 2. 5 pandemic; 2. 0 RDD, quake 2. 5 RDD
Step #3: Developing a Risk Mitigation Plan • Select mitigation strategies the region can implement to reduce risk, based on the findings of the HVA • Develop preliminary action plan.
Mitigation Strategies Selected • Strategy 1: Improve recruitment, coordination, and engagement of volunteers. • Strategy 2: Increasing community preparedness and recovery capability.
Implementing the Greater Nashua Action Plan 1. How might the proposed mitigation strategies improve your response? 2. What are some feasible ways your agency can support implementation of this plan?
Thank you!
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