Preparedness Focus Areas: Biological Preparedness

HEPP and the Bureau of Communicable Disease have been extensively involved in the creation of multiple protocols and guidance documents useful for healthcare facilities to prepare for a biological incident that may impact public health, whether it is natural or intentional in origin.

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The Respiratory Surge Capacity and Capability Improvement Pilot Project (ReSCCIPP)

HEPP is currently in the second phase of the Respiratory Surge Capacity and Capability Improvement Pilot Project (ReSCCIPP), a DOHMH project implemented to augment citywide hospital-based critical care surge capacity. The overall goal of ReSCCIPP is to increase citywide critical respiratory care surge capacity and capability.

Three objectives have been established to achieve this goal. These are to; 1) increase the number of ventilators available to hospitals that could be used during a critical surge event; 2) provide standardized, competency-based training necessary for increasing hospital staff capability to use the city cache ventilators during a surge event such as pandemic influenza; and 3) evaluate the performance of these ventilators in use by New York City hospitals, in their patient care units and Respiratory Therapy departments. This evaluation will inform citywide planning for a pandemic event.

The following documents are available to the NYC hospitals currently participating in Phase II of this project, in order to facilitate completion of the project deliverables. Any questions regarding this project should be directed to Kevin Magbitang, ReSCCIPP Project Coordinator, at 212-788-4242, kmagbita@health.nyc.gov, or Lewis Soloff, MD, ReSCCIPP Medical Director, at 212-788-4185, lsoloff1@health.nyc.gov.

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Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan to Manage In-Hospital Deaths Training Course

HEPP, the City of New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), and Gavin Emergency Management Consultants (GEMC) collaborated to produce the Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan to Manage In-Hospital Deaths Training Course, conducted in early 2008. In total, 546 healthcare workers participated in this training. In an effort to assist New York City Hospitals to train additional staff, all course materials are now available online.

Hospital staff recommended to receive this training include: hospital administrators, pathologists, emergency planners, facility managers, operations staff, morgue personnel, security directors, and medical directors or designee – all personnel who would be responsible for planning and responding to a surge of in-hospital fatalities due to a pandemic event.

If you have any questions about these materials, or the development of your hospital’s Pandemic Influenza Fatality Management Plan, please contact Dana Meranus at dmeranus@health.nyc.gov.

The following guidance and planning tool, titled "City of New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan To Manage In-Hospital Deaths Planning Tool", serves as a starting point for the development of a healthcare facility-specific mass fatality management plan.

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Hospital Working Group for Outbreak of Communicable Respiratory Illness

Beginning in the spring of 2006, BHPP created a competitive grant for leading a Hospital Working Group for Developing a Model Plan to Address Surge Capacity Response to an Outbreak Due to a Contagious Respiratory Illness. SUNY Downstate Medical Center has been selected to lead this group’s activities. Documents, guidelines, and protocols will be shared with hospital partners as they are developed and finalized.

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NYC Hospital Ventilator Survey 2005

BHPP conducted a survey of 65 New York City hospitals in 2005 to address possible supply issues that could potentially arise in an influenza pandemic.

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Hospital and Primary Clinic Tabletop Toolkit

The Toolkit has five chapters, which include step-by-step instructions on planning, conducting and evaluating a hospital tabletop exercise. Chapter 5 contains five different biological disease scenarios, which include Plague, Anthrax, SARS, Pandemic Influenza, and Smallpox. The Pandemic influenza scenario has been adapted for Primary Care Centers.

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Emergency Department Screening and Isolation Drills

BHPP, as a part of 2005 HRSA grant, asked NYC hospitals to conduct an unannounced drill to test their emergency department screening and isolation protocol for a single patient entering their emergency department with fever/rash or fever/respiratory symptoms. The scenario takes place prior to a known outbreak, and is intended to improve and test emergency department infection control protocols for recognizing potentially highly contagious infections.

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Hospital Mass Vaccination Plans

BHPP activities related to hospital planing for mass vaccination of their staff and in-patients.

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Citywide Pandemic Flu Tabletop Exercise 2005

BHPP held a New York City Hospital Tabletop Exercise in July 2005. Over 60 hospitals, state and local agencies participated at the Brooklyn Marriott. The following attachments were presented as a part of the drill.

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Public Health Laboratories

• Public Health Laboratories Shipping Protocol (pdf): Specimen preparation and shipping procedure for hospital and clinic microbiology laboratories sending biological specimens to the NYC DOHMH Public Health Laboratory

• Public Health Laboratories: For more information on NYC DOHMH Public Health Laboratories

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Donning and Removing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

These field-tested materials have been prepared for use in either a just-in-time respiratory protection training or a donning and removing PPE drill.

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Fact Sheets for Biological Agents

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Additional Biological Preparedness Resources

AHRQ Biological and Emerging Infections Education

http://www.bioterrorism.uab.edu/home.html

Association for Professionals in Infection Control Bioterrorism Resources

http://www.apic.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PracticeGuidance/

Topics/Bioterrorism/Bioterrorism.htm#Readiness_Planning

CDC Bioterrorism Emergency Preparedness and Response

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/

Center for Biosecurity

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

http://www.upmc-biosecurity.org/

Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)

University of Minnesota

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/index.html

National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program

Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA)

US Department of Health and Human Service

http://www.hrsa.gov/bioterrorism/default.htm

COMMUNICATING IN THE FIRST HOURS: Initial Communication With the Public During a Potential Terrorism Event.

CDC Web Resource

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/firsthours/

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