June 2023 Newsletter #2
WELCOME TO THE HEALTHCARE COALITION OF MAINE NEWSLETTER
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Healthcare Coalition of Maine (HCCME) is to develop and sustain a powerful coalition of health care organizations, first responders, and other key partners united to save lives and improve health outcomes during disasters through preparedness, planning, response, and recovery efforts.
Goodbye to membership
HCCME Coalition Members,
It is with very mixed emotions that this is our final HCCME Newsletter from All Clear as your coalition contractor. We are so proud of all that the coalition, its members, staff, and partners have accomplished since January 2019 to further the preparedness of Mainers. While we are saddened that we will not be continuing as your HCCME staff, we are hopeful that the foundation we have built over the last four years proves useful during this transitional period. We have been working closely with Maine CDC/PHEP over the last few weeks to implement the transition plan for the coalition and have provided a prioritized work plan to continue the coalition's essential functions.
All Clear is still here to support you! Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or are looking for specific resources. We encourage you to follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/all-clear-emergency-management-group/) and to sign up for our email list (https://www.allclearemg-training.com/Subscribe). We will continue to offer exercises, trainings and resources. If there is anything All Clear can do to support your organization in the future, please feel free to reach out to us at info@AllClearEMG.com.
Finally, we would like to thank each of the members of the HCCME for the opportunity to work with you and for the positive contributions made towards emergency preparedness. We consider ourselves very lucky to have had the ability to serve emergency management professionals across the country and Maine is no exception. Thank you for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Ginny Schwartzer, CEO of All Clear
and the HCCME Team
NEw HCCME Projects
The Coalition has just finalized several projects to share with you all. These are all posted on the Member Portal under the “Additional Member Resources” page. Please see below a list of the newest projects and resources created to assist members in their emergency preparedness.
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MEDICAL SURGE TOOLKIT
This Medical Surge Toolkit was designed to provide manageable and practical tools for hospitals to develop an internal medical surge plan. Planners are encouraged to utilize this Toolkit to plan for:
1. A medical or infectious surge such as pandemic influenza.
2. A mass casualty incident (e.g., trauma) from either natural or human-made events.
3. Adult, pediatric, and geriatric patients with a variety of care needs.
The Toolkit is systematically organized around four (4) common medical surge planning elements: Space, Staff, Stuff, Systems/ Census Management. Planning within this simple framework will address the critical elements of medical surge and facilitate an organized approach to surge planning.
A common strategy for medical surge is the use of community-based alternate care sites (ACS) that may be used for patient screening or to care for additional patients without a place in a hospital. This toolkit is focused on internal surge hospital surge and does not address ACS in the community.
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EXERCISES IN A BOX
These Exercises-in-a-Box are designed to provide users with a templated set of instructions for designing, conducting, and evaluating their own exercises that would meet either the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) “Required exercise” or “Exercise of Choice.” The topics of the two exercises include utility failure and respiratory protection.
OPERATIONAL EXERCISE
TABLETOP EXERCISE
AAR/IP ITS ELECTRIC TTX ——————————————————————————————————————————————————-
POST ACUTE CARE PLAYBOOK
This playbook is designed to be a resource for providers to help improve the hospital discharge process for both patients and family members. The playbook will provide centralized resources to help ensure comprehension of the discharge process and support successful transitions from hospital to post-acute care settings. It will also provide links to additional resources and help enable a positive experience for everyone involved. Additionally, this playbook will emphasize the importance of communication and collaboration between patients, family members, and other healthcare professionals.
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SKILLED NURSING FACILITY PATIENT CARDS
This document includes 150 patient cards specific to skilled nursing patients. The patient card face sheets are a practical tool for healthcare professionals looking to enhance the realism of their emergency preparedness exercises. These cards systematically compiled a face sheet to include patient names, common diagnoses, and concise patient descriptions to inform decision making. The patient cards provide a user-friendly resource that facilitates quick and accurate symptom identification, ultimately improving healthcare decision-making.
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Staff Resilience Toolkit
All Clear Emergency Management Group supported the Healthcare Coalition of Maine by creating this novel toolkit resource for healthcare leaders and managers to support resilience efforts at the systems level.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING 11 ORGANIZATIONS FOR OBTAINING THE
“ACTIVE MEMBER” STATUS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023!
Avita of Brunswick
Calais Community Hospital
Coastal Opportunities- Katherine Brown Home
Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center
HealthReach Community Health Centers
Horizons Living and Rehab Center
Ledgewood Manor, Inc.
Pines Health Services
Sagadahoc County Emergency Management Agency
St. Joseph Hospital/ Healthcare
Stephens Memorial Hospital
As a reminder, in November 2021, HCCME created a new organization agreement form and a variety of membership types.
An “Active Member” has:
A signed member organization agreement on file
Attendance at two (2) HCC meetings within the fiscal year
Participated in at least one (1) redundant communications drill annually
With the “Active Member” status, the organization has voting rights (one (1) vote per organization) and the ability to submit for grant funding opportunities, as available.
If your organization has not filled out the new agreement form yet, you can submit request a form HERE.
Healthcare Coalition of Maine Resource Assessment Report
This document summarizes the Healthcare Coalition of Maine’s Resource Assessment completed as a part of the 2022-2023 Work Plan. The Resource Assessment Report was developed for HCCME to better understand the resources available within the statewide coalition and outline the process (member organization to member organization) to request the identified resources. The assessment survey collected information on member owned resources and supplies necessary for planning and responding to an emergency.
This report is intended to provide a list of resources that could be made available to coalition members for planning, training, exercising, or responding to an emergency.
Partner Trainings and Webinars
MEMA
private sector preparedness and response
scEMA
FEMA
All Clear
MGT341 Disaster Preparedness for Healthcare Organizations within the Community Infrastructure
The MGT341 Disaster Preparedness for Healthcare Organizations within the Community Infrastructure scheduled for delivery July 25-26, is the second in the TEEX Infrastructure Disaster Management Certificate Program, a series of trainings focused on disaster management in key sectors of critical infrastructure in Androscoggin County. This course provides information specific to healthcare organizations vulnerability to a disaster. During this FEMA sponsored course, participants will be introduced to the various natural, technological, and civil hazards to which healthcare organizations may be vulnerable and the potential impacts of those hazards. Federal guidelines and legislation that serve to aid in the preparedness for, and response to, incidents involving these hazards are discussed, as are current emergency management standards for the healthcare community. Participants review response and recovery issues that should be addressed by medical facilities and organizations in preparation for a large-scale incident, including identification of critical resources necessary for response and recovery.
Training Announcement HERE and to REGISTER
Location: 45 Oak St., Lewiston, ME 04240
Date: Jul 25-26, 2023
Private Sector Preparedness Response and Recovery Seminar Series: Mass Casualty Impact & Recovery
Third Thursday of every month Thursday March 16th- November 16th @ 12:00 PM ET
Session 5: July 20- Reopening and Resuming Operations
Session 6: Aug 17- The Immediate Aftermath: What Short Term Recovery Looks Like
Session 7: Sept 21- Negotiating Mid to Long Term Recovery (NY)
Session 8: Oct 19- Post Incident Scams and Fraud
Session 9: Nov 16- Civil and Criminal Judicial Processes
Private Sector Preparedness Response and Recovery is holding a monthly virtual seminar series titled, “Mass Casualty Impact and Recovery,” which examines how businesses can better prepare, respond and recover from active shooter and other mass casualty events. Flyer attached.
Register HERE.
MGT-381V - Business Continuity Planning
SCEMA is pleased to be offering MGT-381V - Business Continuity Planning. (This course was requested by participants following the MGT-403V – Underserved Populations Preparedness Planning for Rural Responders and Volunteers in April.) MGT 381 is an 8-hour, DHS/FEMA-certified, tuition-free, planning and management-level course. This course provides business continuity training to rural communities nationwide. In an effort to standardize terminology among private and public sector entities, it identifies commonalities between emergency management and business continuity planning (BCP). It outlines BCP within the framework of emergency management and the core capabilities of the National Preparedness Goal. Continuity is an important element of preparedness and an integral part of each core capability across the five mission areas of protection, prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery.
WHAT: MGT-381V – Business Continuity Planning
WHEN: August 21st and 22nd, 2023
TIME: 8:30AM-12:30PM EST (both days)
WHERE: Virtual Delivery
FACILITATOR: Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC)
Registration is required, by August 14th, 2023 through the RDPC website. Register for this course by visiting HERE. (FEMA S.I.D. REQUIRED. Register for your FEMA Student Identification Number by visiting HERE. A minimum of 25 participants is required to hold the course. Seats are limited at 40 participants.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Center for Domestic Preparedness
Please see HERE the link to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) training and education information.
All Clear Emergency Management Group has the following upcoming free webinars:
MEMA
ASPR
MDBH
CONTACT US
Email the coalition at HCCME@Maine.Gov to assist you with any of your preparedness needs.
As a reminder, we recommend that you bookmark our website MaineHCCs.com and check in often as we are continually updating the calendar with meetings, trainings, and exercises!