Locating Reliable Disaster Health Resources on the Internet:

For Social Workers

July 8, 2013Washington County Social Work Caucus

Department of Social Services

Instructor: Mary Spalding, MA, MLISMedical Librarian, Western Maryland Area Health Education Center (AHEC)

This program is sponsored in whole or in part by the National Library of Medicine

Description The number of disaster health resources on the World Wide

Web is staggering, but few health professionals and first responders have hours available to wade through these to locate the ones that are most reliable, useful, and specific for a particular locale or population. During this one-hour course, the instructor (a medical librarian) will demonstrate national and local Internet-based resources for disaster preparation and management, such as those based on evidence from previous disasters and/or developed as best practices by government, academic, and other reliable sources. Resources designed for a specific population, such as rural seniors, may be designated as a focus, but general resources will be introduced for all audiences. This training program is sponsored in whole or in part by the National Library of Medicine.

Upon completion of this training, participants should be able to:

Identify reliable Internet-based local and national disaster health resources for health professionals, particularly social workers;

Describe disaster preparedness for health professionals, particularly as it relates to senior citizens.

Objectives

Mary Spalding, MA, MLISWestern Maryland AHEC Program Coordinator and Medical Librarian

Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from University of South Carolina; Master’s Degree in English from West Virginia University with additional PhD course work;

Medical Librarian for WMAHEC since 1999; Serve as medical library consultant for Western Maryland Health System,

Somerset Hospital, and Meritus Health, Inc.; Writer, coordinator, and/or project investigator for numerous federal grants and

contracts involving health care and library services, including the National Library of Medicine, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, Appalachian Regional Commission. She wrote and served as project investigator of a 1999 National Leadership Grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) that provided training in emerging library technologies for rural librarians in three states.

Instructor

Western Maryland Area Health Education Center Learning Resource Center in partnership with:

Allegany College of Maryland Health Continuing Education DepartmentAllegany County Health DepartmentEmergency Preparedness Caucus, WMAHECFrostburg State University Pre-Medical SocietyGarrett County Health DepartmentMeritus Health Medical Library and Education DepartmentSocial Work Caucus - Allegany/Garrett Counties, WMAHECSocial Work Caucus - Washington County, WMAHECWashington County Health DepartmentWestern Maryland Health System Parish Nurse and Health Minister Program 

The goal of Safe Seniors: Appalachian Disaster and Emergency Health Information Outreach is to improve disaster medicine and public health information access for health professionals, first responders and others (paid or volunteer) who play a role in health-related disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in three rural Appalachian counties in Maryland, with a focus on the elderly population. 

"Safe Seniors: Appalachian Disaster and Emergency Health Information Outreach"

Please!◦ Be sure to complete the WMAHEC Participant

Information Form and course pre-test and turn them into Joy Taylor from WMAHEC.

◦ Sign in on the sign-in sheet.◦ After the course, complete a course evaluation and

post-test found in your packet and turn it in to Joy as well.

THANK YOU! These materials help WMAHEC assess this program and plan for future programs!

Housekeeping ….

NO!If you must have best/promising practices and/or peer-reviewed literature on health topics, including disaster health, will a Google search suffice?

Not to worry! The National Library of Medicine has◦located those resources, ◦evaluated them for quality and reliability, and

◦organized those selected for easy retrieval by health professionals, public health officials, first responders, and others with a role in disaster preparation and management.

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc.html

◦ Disaster preparation and management toolkits◦ Disaster plan samples◦ Resources for counselors and others on coping

with disasters◦ Free online continuing education and training

opportunities◦ Free educational videos◦ Apps for mobile phones and computers on

hazardous materials and other topics,◦ Even resources on preparing for . . .

Peer-reviewed literature is available at DIMRC (as you might expect from NLM), but there is much more!

Worst-case Scenarios

http://www.remm.nlm.gov/NuclearDetonationPreparedness.pdf

National Library of Medicine – Disaster Information Management Research

Center (DIMRC)

The core purpose of the Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) is to develop and provide access to health information resources and technology for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Our intent is to connect people to quality disaster health information and foster a culture of community resiliency.

(Our Sponsor)

Let’s start with an overview of the site, and then we’ll go to resources specifically useful for social workers working with a variety of populations.

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc.html

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc.html

Search PubMed for Peer-Reviewed Disaster Health

Literature; Register as Loansome Doc

user to order articles through WMAHEC!

Resource Guide—Search public health,

disaster medicine, and related information

available on the Web

Disaster Types and Topics—Directory with links to Web

resources evaluated by medical librarians for quality and reliability

Selection Guidelines for Non-National Library of Medicine Resources

http://disaster.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/envirohealthlinkscriteria.html

Selection Guidelines• U.S. Government and non-U.S. Government

sites meeting evaluation criteria, including:• Clearly stated relevant purpose;• Authority, Credibility, and Affiliation• Content, Coverage, and Currency• Point of View• Access, Navigation, and Availability• Language

Accessibility for persons with disabilities (visual or other) is a core considera-

tion in creation of NLM sites and selected links.

Disaster Types

Disaster

Types

Disaster-Related Topics• Animals in Disasters• Disaster Apps and Mobile Optimized Web Pages• Community Preparedness• Coping with Disasters, Violence, and Traumatic

Stress• Disaster Recovery• Ethics in Disaster Medicine and Public Health• Personal Preparedness• Mass Gatherings• Special Populations• Disaster-Related Competencies for Healthcare

Providers• Sources of Emergency and Disaster Information

from the U.S. Government

• Each Disaster topic ends with links to PubMed/ MEDLINE citations on that topic with the search already done for you!

• Contact Mary Spalding, Instructor and Librarian, for information on obtaining free copies until September 15

MEDLINE contains up-to-date citations and abstracts of articles published in professional medical journals published in this country and abroad.

PUBMED (www.pubmed.gov) allows you to search MEDLINE using keywords and MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) – I recommend using both; tutorials are available on the sites to help you—they are excellent; PubMed links to free full text of articles on the Web; if full text is not available, you may ORDER the articles using Loansome Doc.

National Library of Medicine’s PubMed/MEDLINE and Loansome Doc(For Access to Professional Literature)

Loansome Doc – An integrated tool that allows users to order articles unavailable in full text from their designated libraries – Register for free and choose Western Maryland AHEC as your primary access library—your requests will come directly to us. To register for Loansome Doc, go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/loansomedoc/loansome_home.html

How to Order Articles in PubMed/Loansome Doc: In PubMed, select an article you want (or send as many as you’d like to the Clipboard using the “Send To” pull-down menu). When you are ready, use “Send To” pull-down menu and choose “Order.” This will take you to Loansome Doc; Register and choose WMAHEC as your primary access library; remember your username and password for next time. Your search will be sent directly to WMAHEC once you send it, and your articles should be available within a day or two in most cases.

FREE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 16! Our contract with the National Library of Medicine for this training also provides funds to cover the cost of retrieving full text articles from libraries that charge. They are usually sent in full text to your email as a PDF document.

After September 16, small fees may be charged for articles requested through Loansome Doc, but you designate how much, if anything, you are willing to be pay before the order is processed. These fees differ depending on the library that owns the journal and fills the request. All requests go through WMAHEC first.

Free literature through PubMed/MEDLINE under WMAHEC’s contract with NLM through September 16!

Free Disaster and Emergency Response Tools from the National Library of Medicine

 

Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management (CHEMM) - Guidance on planning, response and recovery related to chemical mass casualty incidents

Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER)

- A system to help emergency responders identify hazardous materials

and respond to chemical emergencies. Contains information on over 400 chemicals and radiologic agents.

Radiation Emergency Medical Management (REMM) - Guidance on the clinical diagnosis and

treatment of mass casualty radiological/nuclear events for health care

providers.

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc.html

Excellent tutorials walk you through using all NLM tools!

WISER (found on DIMRC Home page)

Searchable Resource Guide (Found on Home Page)—This search returned resources for rural preparedness.

Now, specifically for social workers . . .

NLM’s DIMRC provides links to numerous resources, far more than I can demonstrate here. I’ve selected a few to share with you today, but I hope you’ll spend some time at the site looking for materials relevant to you and your place of work.

Resources About Coping with Disasters, Violence, and Traumatic Events – Including For the Health

Professional

And for specific ones!• Overview• Lead Organizations• Mental Health and Emotional

Response to Traumatic Events• Intervention and Treatment• Substance Abuse Issues• Pre-Existing Behavioral Health and

Mental Health Conditions• For Emergency Responders,

Healthcare Workers, Journalists, and Volunteers

• For Professionals, Teachers, Parents, and Others Working with Children

• For the Public• Apps and Widgets• Training Courses and Instructional

Materials• Multi-Language Resources• Disclaimer

Competencies and Online Courses for Health Professionals, many with CEUs

Resources, courses, etc., for multiple

disciplines

Can be “attended” by anyone Past Webinars can be watched at any time by going

to archive at http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/dismeetings.html Just one excellent example:

◦ 2013 March 21Disability Inclusive Emergency ManagementMarcie Roth, Senior Advisor on Disability Issues for FEMA, spoke about integrating the needs of the whole community into all aspects of emergency preparedness and disaster response, recovery and mitigation efforts. 

Monthly Disaster Information Webinars (1 hour)

Following are a few examples of resources and materials to be found at DIMRC from a variety of reliable sources, according to the medical librarians at the National Library of Medicine.

Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress Free download: http

://www.cstsonline.org/addressing-the-needs-of-the-seriously-mentally-ill-in-disaster/

Includes A Guide to Managing Stress in Crisis Response Professionals

Addressing the Needs of the Seriously Mentally Ill in Disaster

Also accessed at NLM DIMRC under Coping with Traumatic Events, Training Courses and Instructional Resources:

Mental Health Consequences of Disaster

Very good presenter!

Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University—Very good presentations on public

mental health issues, including disastershttp://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-public-health-preparedness/training/online/consequences_of_disaster.html

Free registration required

And especially for

those working in hospitals ….

Communications During Emergencies

• Patient Information Management

• Information Access During Disaster Response

SAMHSA’s Disaster Kit: http://store.samhsa.gov/product/SMA11-DISASTER

Order this free resource—or download all sections from the Web site

National Institutes of Mental Health – http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/ptsd-listing.shtml

Publications About PTSD and other disorders Educational Resources about the Brain And more!

Mice Give New Clues to Origins of OCD: Findings Could Help Identify New Treatment Approaches

Columbia Psychiatry, June 7, 2013

http://newsroom.cumc.columbia.edu/2013/06/07/mice-give-new-clues-to-origins-of-ocd/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mice-give-new-clues-to-origins-of-ocd

The latest research with videos!

And for kids, teens, and the young at heart who want to know what to do in a disaster. . .

While you wait for that, though, you could try:

From FEMA: www.disasterhero.com

www.disasterhero.com/resources/kids

And for seniors and other vulnerable populations. . .

Accessed under Disaster Topics in DIMRC. Direct url: http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/specialpopulationsanddisasters.html

http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m4640086_Disaster_Preparedness_for_Srs-English.revised_7-09.pdf

State and Local Resources

Go to DIMRC / Disaster Topics / Animals in Disasters - http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/animals.html

Many resources are available there (including a free FEMA course on the topic) to help your clients plan for their pets in case of emergency – before, not after, an event!

Information on handling farm animals in disaster is also provided.

Don’t forget, seniors do not want to evacuate in an emergency without their pets . . .

Search for state agencies and organizations (or for organizations devoted to a particular purpose) on

DIMRC home page

Maryland Office of Preparedness and Response (DHMH)

http://preparedness.dhmh.maryland.gov/SitePages/Home.aspx

DO screen shot

MEMA

Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) http://mema.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx

DHMH Maryland Responds--Medical Reserve Corps)(MRC): The MD Responds team consists of health care professionals and community members ready to assist with disaster and emergency response and recovery during a declared emergency. MD Responds coordinates the recruitment, training, activation, and retention of practicing and retired physicians, nurses, other health professionals, as well as citizens who are eager to address their community's ongoing public health needs and to help during large-scale emergencies. http://mdr.dhmh.maryland.gov/SitePages/Home.aspx

State of Maryland Resources

Wash. Co. Basic Emergency Response Plan - http://www.washco-md.net/public_info/Washington%20County%20Basic%20Emergency%20Response%20Plan.pdf

Wash. Co. Emergency Preparedness - http://www.washco-md.net/EmergencyServices/eman_prep.shtm - For the public; preparedness quiz, preparedness tips, disaster kit list, links to other resources, etc.

Wash. Co. Emergency Mapbook – Password protected, for emergency personnel only

Wash. Co. Emergency Medical Services - http://www.washco-md.net/EmergencyServices/ems_home.shtm

Wash. Co. Community Emergency Response Training “C E R T“ (Volunteer training) - http://www.washco-md.net/EmergencyServices/eman_CERT.shtm

Washington County Resources

Complete your post-test and evaluation form and return to instructor today.

Be sure you turned in your Participant Information Form.

Contact Mary Spalding with any additional resources you’d recommend and/or with requests for literature or searching assistance.

Mary Spalding – mspalding@wmahec.org – 301-777-9150, Ext. 116

Thank you! … And please ….