May 2023 Newsletter

Welcome to the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition Newsletter

May 2023

As a valued partner of the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition (VHEPC), you will receive this quarterly newsletter highlighting coalition business, upcoming events and preparedness resources. As a reminder, we recommend that you bookmark the VHEPC website calendar and check it often. We are continually curating the calendar with meetings, trainings and exercises.

Our Mission

Our coalition is a multi-disciplinary partnership collaborating with our members, stakeholders, and surrounding communities to improve and expand emergency preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities. The VHEPC works with healthcare entities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies in the state of Vermont.

**VHEPC Quarter 4 Full Coalition Meeting (Hybrid)**

May 11, 2023 from 10:00AM ET to 2:00PM ET
SEOC Conference Room at 45 State Drive, Waterbury VT 05671
**In-person Registration,** **CLICK HERE**
**Online Registration,** **CLICK HERE**

**Regional MCI Workshops**

South Workshop - June 6th from 12:00PM to 3:00PM
Central Workshop - June 7th from 12:00PM to 3:00PM
North Workshop - June 8th from 9:00AM to 12:00PM
**South Registration,** **CLICK HERE**
**Central Registration,** **CLICK HERE**
**North Registration,** **CLICK HERE**

**Barriers to Patient Flow Workgroup: Hospital Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Call Out**

Root Cause Analysis Workshops will be offered to ALL Vermont hospitals through June 30, 2023.
**Please reach out to Lauren Smith at** **laurens@allclearemg.com** **or VHEPC at** **vhepc@allclearemg.com** **to schedule, now!**

**Vermont EMS for Children: Pediatric Case Review**

Meeting information will be made available on the VHEPC website, HERE.
**The next case review will be in late May.**

**Save the Date! Vermont’s Project Firstline:**
**CIC Course**

Registration Coming Soon!
**July 25th - 28th, 2023**
**Waterbury State Office Complex**

**Hospitals & Healthcare: What are you currently planning for?**

We are looking to collect information on the current plans that hospitals and healthcare facilities are working on. We plan to post this on the website for VHEPC members to access and reach out to facilities/organizations for help or guidance, if needed. Please provide current planning efforts within the survey link below.

Add Plans Here

Webinars and Education

Cybersecurity Education: HHS 405(d) Knowledge On Demand

Knowledge on Demand (KOD) is a cybersecurity education platform that includes multiple delivery methodologies to reach the varied size health care facilities across the country. Five cybersecurity trainings that align with the top five cybersecurity threats outlined in HICP are featured for training your healthcare staff, security team, and any other department that is on the front lines for protecting patient safety. The best part about this resource? It’s FREE!

Access the education platform, below!

Learn More

72-Hour Nuclear Detonation Guidance - Released

The 72-hr guidance after a nuclear detonation has just been released and will be followed by a number of videos that will illustrate its key elements. It is hosted on FEMA CBRN Page: Tools for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Hazards.

Download the Guidance, below!

Download Here

Radiation Medical Issues: Just in Time Pocket Card

The Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site has released their Radiation Medical Issues: Just in Time Pocket Card. Be sure to download this tool and share it amongst your facility. This Pocket Card will help with what you need to know in case of a radiological disaster. Be sure to check out their website, https://orise.orau.gov/index.html

Download the Pocket Card, below!

Download Here

Regional Disaster Health Response System (RDHRS) - Regional Webinars

The RDHRS envisions a coordinated, resilient and seamless system of partners working together to ensure the healthcare needs of the public can be met in times of disaster. At all levels of the RDHRS, activities aim to optimize clinical surge capacity and, provide appropriate clinical and healthcare operational expertise to support healthcare disaster response planning. Within the Regional Webinars, specific topics including Family Reunification, the Ebola Outbreak, Pediatric Respiratory Illness and much more have been recorded for healthcare education!

Access the online webinars, below!

Learn More

VHEPC Executive Committee Announcement

We wanted to thank Liz Rowell for her work and support with the VHEPC Executive Committee, Members and Partners. She will be stepping away from her role as a Member At-Large as of June 1st. Thank you for everything, Liz!
We will need to fill the Member At-Large role for the remainder of the Executive Committee term. We will begin collecting nominations in June 2023, keep your eye out!

Vermont: emPOWER & SVI De-identified Data

The HHS emPOWER Program is a partnership between the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The HHS emPOWER Program provides federal data, mapping, and artificial intelligence tools that are used to protect the of Medicare beneficiaries who are also relying on electrically powered medical devices. Currently there are 4.2 million individuals who live independently and rely on electricity-dependent medical and assistive equipment and devices, and or essential health care services.

emPOWER DATA HERE

Training Corner

Find the latest trainings and resources here.

Engaging Patients and Communities in HEAL Research

National Institute of Health (NIH)

HEAL research is focused on finding scientific solutions for stemming the opioid crisis and addressing the treatment needs of people with diverse types of acute and chronic pain. But the best approaches conceived in a research setting cannot be effective if they don’t meet the needs of people in real-world settings. Join the NIH HEAL Initiative® for a webinar exploring ways in which two HEAL projects are meaningfully engaging patients and community partners throughout the research process to ensure the findings from HEAL studies have the greatest public health impact on the pain and opioid public health crises.

Friday May 5th from 2:00PM to 3:00PM

ASTHO 2023 Public Health TechXpo and Futures Forum

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)

The 2023 Public Health TechXpo and Futures Forum, presented by ASTHO in Chicago, is an annual convening of public health leaders and experts across the technology, professional services, financial, workforce, and related sectors.

Tuesday May 23rd-Friday May 25th

Innovative Approaches to Improve Maternal Health

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

NHLBI is hosting a hybrid event that brings together technology developers, medical device experts, small business innovators, implementation scientists, maternal mortality and morbidity (MMM) researchers, and academic, industry, and community-based partners. The goal is to connect the research community with small businesses that are developing new approaches to improve MMM and its associated health disparities.

Monday May 8th-Tuesday May 9th

Sharing Session on Workforce Development

National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO)

A panel of health directors will discuss some of the challenges that local health departments have been experiencing in employee retention and workforce burnout, and how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues. This sharing session will provide both speakers and participants with an opportunity to share experiences and discuss ways to re-engage staff in their work, especially at the local level.

Tuesday May 23rd from 3:00PM to 4:00PM