polk county special populations planning jay shrader, director western region partnership for public...
TRANSCRIPT
Polk County Special Populations Planning
Jay Shrader, DirectorWestern Region Partnership for Public Health Preparedness
Kathy Poirier, DirectorPolk County Emergency Management
Rick Gates, Veterans Service Officer Polk County Veterans Affairs
Polk County Population: 43,886 Age Distribution
Under 5: 5.9% (6.4) Under 18: 26.2% (25.5) Over 65: 15.1% (13.1)
Persons below poverty: 7.1% (8.1) Persons per square mile: 45.0 (98.8) Persons with a Disability (age 5+): 6,860 (790,917) 8 Public Schools, 3 Parochial, 3 Medical Centers 45 Minutes from MPLS Largest Municipality: 2,000+ 2 radio stations, no daily newspapers 400 lakes and rivers – heavy tourist area
Objectives
Provide overview of the Polk County Special Needs Plan for Disasters and Emergencies
Provide overview of the Polk County Special Needs Registry
Discuss successes, unexpected findings, and barriers
The Catalyst… Following Hurricane
Katrina, Governor Doyle ordered evacuation plans
CDC / HHS placed great emphasis on special populations planning
After Action Report from recent exercises
Media and stakeholder’s inquiries forced action
Polk County resident approached County Board Chairperson
The Process Process took from May - November of 2006 Established and received buy-in from core
committee: EM, PH, VA, HS, Home Care, Aging Research and fact finding
Seminole County EM, Florida Community engagement
12 meetings; 120 participants Business, government, special needs individuals
Plan and Registry reviewed and signed into County EOP in November 2006
Registry live in December Website Developed with on-line registry
www.co.polk.wi.us/emgt
The Plan Goal: Reach everyone in a
community!!!! Push vs. Pull Communication Shelter-in-Place vs.
Evacuation CDC Categories: Economic
Disadvantage, Limited Language Competence, Disability, Cultural / Geographic Isolation, Age, and Pets/Animals (Added by Committee)
The Plan Category, Subset, Point of Contact,
Barriers to Reach / Concerns, Estimated Population Size, Communication Mechanism, Location, Action Needed
The Registry Result of planning process – Committee
driven Intended for individuals with severe health
and medical needs Purpose of Registry is two fold:
1) Special needs can self-identify2) Emergency Responders have data to foster
effective response
Both on-line and paper applications 2006 Planning Year; 2007
Implementation, Testing, Exercising; 2008 Updating and Revising
Registry has 18 individuals thus far
The Registry Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer on forms,
posters, website, etc: The Registry is a voluntary program and in no way ensures immediate or preferential treatment in an emergency. Individuals must have their own individual plan for the first 48-72 hours of an emergency.
Information to be used only during an emergency.
Corp Counsel reviewed legal and liability issues including HIPPA (based on HHS Memo re: Hurricane Katrina and voluntary approach)
HHS Memo re: HIPPA
Registry EligibilityThe Registry is for those individuals who are not in a care facility, such as a hospital, nursing home or congregate living facility. These facilities are required to have an evacuation plan in place for their residents and patients to be transported to another healthcare facility. The Registry is for individuals who are not part of a group facility and have no other alternative but to seek assistance from the County.
Must be a Polk County resident. Individuals, who due to mobility restrictions, require
assistance of others with medical management activities of daily living and basic needs, when that assistance may be unavailable during an emergency or disaster.
They have a respiratory condition requiring special equipment such as monitors or oxygen.
There may be other conditions which would render an individual eligible for special needs emergency sheltering and these will be considered by the review of the registration form by a Review Team.
The Registry Operations FlowSpecial Needs Registry
Application
Completed Paper and mailed in
Completed On-Line – Applicant information
downloaded into Special Needs Registry database
Email Notification Sent to Emergency Management
Emergency Management Receives
Instant Email Verification Receipt sent to Applicant
EM sends applicant letter confirming receipt of letter
EM and PH convene Review Team
Application Denied Additional Information Needed
EM sends out letters and other resources
Application Approved – Level assigned
EM updates registry Review Team member contacts applicant for
additional info
The Registry at Work During an incident, EM will query the
database to determine affected population. EM will notify ER partners via phone, email,
dispatch, radio or fax of special needs population in geographical area. EM may work with local PH to develop a Command Caller Scenario.
EM or designee will attempt to contact individual or emergency contact of the incident and provide/receive status.
ER community will use data to establish an effective response.
Other Issues Cost: In kind support of approx
$600.00 per year for materials Staffing: EM Director manages
logistics; Review Team oversees operations
Maintenance: registrants must update application annually
Training: training to ER responders on the registry and ethical considerations when dealing with special populations (section in plan)
Registry Levels of Enrollment
Determined by Review Team: Level 1: Requires urgent attention. Individual’s
medical information indicates immediate emergency response assistance is necessary for survival.
Level 2: Requires moderate attention. Individual’s medical information indicates an eventual emergency response is necessary but is not considered immediate or life-threatening.
Level 3: Requires little attention. Individual’s medical information indicates there is no immediate attention required. However, if time and resources permit, the individual should be contacted by emergency responders.
Not eligible for the program.
Registry Examples: Level 1
45 YR Male: Live with spouse; hearing loss, end stage renal failure (life sustaining equipment)
65 Yr Male: lives alone; severe diabetic, left leg amputated, wheelchair, partially deaf and blind, insulin dependant
44 Yr Male: Lives alone with caregiver; gun-shot in chin, paralyzed from neck down
Registry Examples: Level 2, 3 Level 2
90 Yr Female: lives alone, blind Level 3
74 Yr Male: lives with spouse, cancer of the stomach (removed), g-tube feeder; special dietary needs
To be reviewed 36 Yr Female: lives alone, brain cancer,
diabetes, kidney disease, seizures, wheelchair bound
63 Yr Female: lives with sister, quadriplegic, insulin dependant, brain injury, life sustaining medications
Website FAQ
Online Application
Paper Application
Registry Poster
Letter Sent
Resource Sent
What worked?
Core committee very dedicated Support from administration and
department heads Community buy-in and participation Debate is healthy… we’re a very
healthy committee! In-kind support (IT, Corp Counsel,
EM, VA, PH, Home Care, Aging) It’s working, so far!
Barriers Defining Special Populations Levels of Enrollment in Registry need to be
more defined Must have same individual (s) facilitate the
process from A to Z Must have same agency reps in process
from A to Z Time consuming – resource intensive Long term commitment unknown yet Marketing Getting people signed up Equal workloads among players!!!
Unexpected Findings
Positive public perception of local government
Cohesion among community agencies and governmental departments
Excitement and enthusiasm Interest among counties across WI
Next Steps MOU’s with
participating agencies
Establish Line of Succession
Continue Outreach Training / Education
GIS (Geographic Information Services)
Exercise
Questions?
Jay Shrader [email protected](715)485-9116
Kathy [email protected](715)485-9280
Rick [email protected](715)485-9244