Promising Practices & Pandemic Toolkits

 

 

 

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While the pandemic of 2009 has receded, many government agencies, public and private organizations, and individuals continue to work to prepare for the next global disease outbreak. 

 

There are hundreds of toolkits available for free, online, to help communities and organizations prepare.  Every few months I endeavor to highlight them.

 

One of the best resources available is undoubtedly CIDRAP’s Promising Practices Website. 

 

If you are interested in starting a community preparedness or response program - or one for a college or university - rather than re-inventing the wheel, a visit to this website could save you and your organization  a lot of time, money, and aggravation.

 

 

The website welcome describes the site this way:

 

Promising Practices offers you more than 330 tools, practices, and strategies that have been used by public health and others to prepare or respond to an influenza pandemic. Materials represent work from 45 US states, including more than 65 cities and counties and now, colleges and universities.

 

The Promising Practices collection has just expanded to include higher education, in cooperation with the universities that compose the Big 10+2, and with support from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). The "Higher Ed" category already has more than 30 practices for colleges and universities to use, and collection is ongoing from all colleges and universities (see press release).

 

Created before the novel H1N1 influenza pandemic to enhance preparedness, Promising Practices now also features useful response activities. State and local health departments, as well as colleges and universities, are sharing their successes. By highlighting this quality work, Promising Practices aims to help conserve resources and strengthen preparedness and response activities.

 

A small sampling of some recently posted resources includes:

 

New Approach to Translation Helps Minnesota Respond to H1N1 (MN)

The 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic prompted the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to design an innovative process to help planners determine which languages to translate and how many...   >> More

Evaluation of H1N1 Vaccination Clinics Highlights Leadership Role of School Nurses (ME)

As part of Maine's efforts to evaluate H1N1 response, the University of Southern Maine (USM) Muskie School of Public Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)...   >> More

Antiviral Distribution for the Control of H1N1 (TX)

Building new partnerships, including with large retail chains, helped Texas dramatically expand its options for distributing antiviral medications during the 2009 H1N1 influenza...   >> More

H1N1 Strategic Outreach Campaign (CA)

The Kern County Public Health Services (KCPHS) launched a prevention campaign in June 2009 to "minimize confusion, misinformation and potential hysteria" about H1N1 pandemic flu. The...   >> More

Elementary and Middle Schools Collaborate with Public Health to Evaluate Vaccination and Absenteeism (ME)

Two state organizations in Maine worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to evaluate the effects of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) monovalent (2009 H1N1)...   >> More

New Guidelines and On-Campus Resources Lead to Provision of Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer on Campus (MI)

During the H1N1 pandemic, the University of Michigan developed policies and practices around provision of alcohol-free hand sanitizer. In April 2009, the University of Michigan was...   >> More

Stockpiling Protective Equipment Allows Campus to Supply University Hospital with Masks during H1N1 (MI)

The University of Michigan began planning for an influenza pandemic 3 to 4 years ago. At the time, planners noticed that there was a lack of clear guidelines about the storage and use...   >> More

Healthcare Systems and Public Health Collaborate on Free Vaccine Clinics (SD)

Competing healthcare systems in South Dakota worked together for several months to offer free H1N1 vaccine to the public. Avera Health and Sanford Health are two large healthcare...   >> More

 

 

In 2008, after nearly a year of consultation with community leaders, the HHS released a series of pandemic preparedness toolkits which I highlighted in Pandemic Toolkits: You Don't Have To Start From Scratch.

 

You’ll find You can download all of the HHS toolkits from the Take The Lead webpage.

 

 

You’ll find factsheets, checklists, sample emails, and other resources already designed, and ready for use.

 

As you will see, the HHS wants, and is encouraging, community involvement and community action.

 

 

The King County-Seattle Health Department has produced a remarkable teaching aid, a 12-page comic book available in 8  languages, on pandemic influenza.

 

You may download and print out this resource, or you can order copies (outside of Washington State, order from National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)).

Preparedness comic book in multiple languages

Public Health - Seattle & King County has developed a 12-page comic book on pandemic flu in multiple languages. Targeting readers of all ages, this story tells the tale of a family's experience with the 1918 influenza pandemic. It also explains what to expect in a severe pandemic and offers tips to help households prepare.

 

NOTE: At the time this comic book was written, no vaccine was available for a pandemic. However, vaccine development for H1N1 is currently in development and is expected to be available in the fall of 2009. This publication was created in anticipation of a severe pandemic similar to the one in 1918. The H1N1 pandemic is not expected to be this severe.

 

Due to limited quantities, we can only grant requests for this publication to street addresses in King County, WA State.

 

 

One of the private groups I've highlighted in the past, the READYMOMS, have prepared a terrific  selection of free, downloadable, toolkits that can help you create a display like the one below they have used at medical conventions and conferences. 

 

 

 

 

While they have a couple of dozen resources, their ReadyMoms Alliance brochure (pdf trifold, legal size ie 8.5in x 14in) is a particularly effective handout (screenshots below), and can be reproduced (b/w, double sided,tri-folded) for less than 10 cents apiece in quantity by many commercial printers.

 

 

Although things are relatively quiet in the novel flu world right now, it isn’t too soon to begin figuring out how we will deal with the next pandemic that rolls down the pike.

NPM10: CIDRAP’s Promising Practices

 

 

Note: While most of my blogs so far this month have been about individual preparedness, community preparedness is equally important.

 

So today I profile a valuable resource for agencies, organizations, and colleges & universities that must prepare for public health emergencies.

 

You can follow the month long National Preparedness Month Campaign on Twitter by searching the #NPM10 hash tag.

 

 

# 4886

 

 

Since this is National Preparedness Month I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the vast resources available on CIDRAP’s Promising Practices Website.

 

If you are interested in starting a community preparedness or response program - or one for a college or university - rather than re-inventing the wheel, a visit to this website could save you and your organization  a lot of time, money, and aggravation.

 

 

The website welcome describes the site this way:

 

Promising Practices offers you more than 330 tools, practices, and strategies that have been used by public health and others to prepare or respond to an influenza pandemic. Materials represent work from 45 US states, including more than 65 cities and counties and now, colleges and universities.

 

The Promising Practices collection has just expanded to include higher education, in cooperation with the universities that compose the Big 10+2, and with support from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). The "Higher Ed" category already has more than 30 practices for colleges and universities to use, and collection is ongoing from all colleges and universities (see press release).

 

Created before the novel H1N1 influenza pandemic to enhance preparedness, Promising Practices now also features useful response activities. State and local health departments, as well as colleges and universities, are sharing their successes. By highlighting this quality work, Promising Practices aims to help conserve resources and strengthen preparedness and response activities.

 

You may use materials on this site right away. Please credit the agencies whose work you adapt, and check practices for other conditions of use.

 

 

A small sampling of some recently posted resources includes:

 

 Partnerships Introduce Students to Emergency Response (OH)

In spring 2009, at the start of the H1N1 influenza pandemic, an H1N1 Committee was formed at the University of Toledo (UT) in Ohio. Committee members quickly recognized two valuable...   >> More

Disaster Mental Health Intervention Field Guide (IN)

Updated August 2010 The Field Guide is a compendium of mental health tools that describes the range of behavioral health responses to disaster and offers suggestions on how to...   >> More

SurveyMonkey Used for Campus Vaccine Registration (MI)

Conducting mass H1N1 vaccination at Michigan State University (MSU)-one of the Big 10 universities-required thoughtful planning. A population of approximately 47,000 students, an...   >> More

H1N1 Essential Personnel Recommendation (IN)

In December 2008, before the first case of H1N1 pandemic influenza was discovered, Purdue University drafted a plan that outlines how essential and non-essential employees would access...   >> More

Options-Based Planning Allows Flexible H1N1 Response (OH)

The Ohio State University (OSU) developed an "options-based" pandemic plan that allowed staff to coordinate H1N1 response in a flexible and creative manner. OSU began developing its...   >> More

Nursing Students Provide Majority of Vaccine Given on Campus (PA)

Savvy planning and resource use helped Pennsylvania State University (PSU) make the best of the challenge of holding mass vaccination clinics. A key part of PSU's success was including...   >> More

 

With more than 320 resources available (and growing), this site is well worth visiting often.  

 

But fair warning . . . pack a lunch.

There’s so much to see, you’ll probably be there awhile.

Updating CIDRAP’s Promising Practices

 

 

# 4783

 

The last time I  highlighted CIDRAP’s Promising Practices Website was last April, and since that time they’ve added many new locally created preparedness initiatives and have incorporated pandemic response activities from institutions of higher learning.

 

 

If you are interested in starting a community preparedness or response program - or one for a college or university - rather than re-inventing the wheel, a visit to this website could save you and your organization  a lot of time, money, and aggravation.

 

 

 

Here is the press release on these latest additions.

 

Universities share lessons learned in H1N1 response on Promising Practices site

Aug. 3, 2010

CIDRAP's Promising Practices: Pandemic Influenza Tools, your online resource for useful preparedness and response tools, has expanded to include H1N1 pandemic response activities from Higher Education institutions.

 

At www.CIDRAPpractices.org, you will find tools, tips and practices in nine categories, from incident management to teaching policies and human resources to residence halls. You'll find more than 30 practices ranging from innovative solutions to housing for ill students to high-tech options for scheduling mass vaccination clinics. More practices are being added all the time.

 

CIDRAP is launching the newest category of Promising Practices with financial support from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and in collaboration with the universities of the Big 10+2.

 

"Colleges and universities were very important, but largely unsung partners in responding to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic," said Jill DeBoer, MPH, Associate Director of CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota, and Director of the Academic Health Center Office of Emergency Response (AHC-OER), who oversees the project.  "What we have learned from them can strengthen public health and university response for many public health emergencies. By sharing such promising work, CIDRAP hopes to save time and resources for those charged with safeguarding the public's health."

 

Expansion of the Promising Practices site is one element of a three-part project focused on what universities learned during the pandemic. An online conference for Big 10+2 university partners took place on May 18, and a report highlighting universities' lessons learned in H1N1 response will be published this fall.

 

Please visit the site to see CIDRAP's collection of more than 330 preparedness and response practices. To share your own agency or university's Promising Practices in response, click on "submit a practice". Colleges and universities, as well as public health agencies and stakeholders, are invited to submit their Promising Practices in pandemic response.

 

Contact: Jill DeBoer, MPH
Associate Director of CIDRAP
Director of Academic Health Center Office of Emergency Response
612.626.6770  

Updating CIDRAP’s Promising Practices

 

 

# 4478

 

 

It’s been awhile since I last highlighted CIDRAP’s Promising Practices Website, and since that time they’ve added a number of locally created preparedness programs that can serve as an outline for other communities to learn from or follow.  

 

If you are interested in starting a community preparedness program, rather than re-invent the wheel, a visit to this website makes a lot of sense.  

 

 

Some of the newest entries on the site include:

 

• Public health and faith-based organizations partner to offer food and vaccine to the homeless (SC, CA, FL) describes several efforts to provide homeless and low-income people with access to H1N1 vaccine. View Practice

• Telephone Survey Used to Understand Community Vaccine Uptake (KY) describes how Kentucky conducted a telephone survey to determine vaccine coverage among target groups. View Practice

• State Police Transport Influenza Samples to State Lab (LA) details how the Louisiana State Police transported large volumes of influenza samples from numerous regional locations to the state laboratory. View Practice

• Zoo Vaccination Clinic Targets Daycare Children (VA) explains how combining a vaccination clinic with an entertaining field trip can be successful. View Practice

• Food Workers Learn about Flu (IL) details how Illinois utilized sanitation workers to share H1N1 messages with their clients. View Practice

• Mobile Vaccination Clinic Reaches Rural Areas (WV) describes how a mobile clinic traveled to nine rural locations to deliver H1N1 vaccines. View Practice

• Vaccination Clinics for State Employees (AR, AZ, IN, UT) details the approaches used by four states to vaccinate members of state governmental organizations. View Practice

 

 

With more than 280 practices now available, you could spend days combing through this repository of good ideas.   

 

To assist in navigating the site, you can of course do a search.  But the webmaster has also provided a handful of predefined searches as well. 

 

Personal Preparedness

Vulnerable Populations

Home Care

School Toolkits

Other Toolkits

By Language

By Ethics Projects

By State

 

 

A highly recommended treasure trove of good preparedness information and ideas. 

 

Plan on visiting often.

Updating CIDRAP’s Promising Practices

 

 

# 4302

 

It’s been nearly 2 months since I last highlighted CIDRAP’s Promising Practices Website, and since that time they’ve added a number of locally created preparedness programs that can serve as an outline for other communities to learn from or follow.  

 

If you are interested in starting a community preparedness program, rather than re-invent the wheel, a visit to this website makes a lot of sense.  

 

 

Some of the newest entries on the site include:

 

· H1N1 Vaccine Clinics for Medically Fragile Children (RI) describes a process for holding H1N1 vaccination clinics for children with severe neurological illnesses or other severe, chronic medical conditions. View Practice

 

· Resource Manual Ensures Smooth Clinic Operations (SC) details how public health officials created a manual with all of the materials and protocols necessary to ensure consistent vaccination clinic operations throughout the region. View Practice

 

· Mass Vaccination Clinic Held at Baseball Stadium (IL) describes how Illinois used a baseball stadium, a team mascot, and a Santa Claus to provide a comfortable environment in a mass vaccination clinic for children. View Practice

 

· Tracking H1N1 Trends Through Electronic Prescription Records (RI) describes how the health department uses electronic prescription records to identify outbreaks or inappropriate use of antivirals. View Practice

 

· Faith-Based Collaboration Provides Outreach in Multiple Languages (CT) details how establishing communication channels with community organizations can make important information available to hard-to-reach populations. View Practice

 

· Training for Community Agencies to Plan for H1N1 and People with Special Needs (RI) describes a three-day seminar to train community leaders in responding to H1N1 issues among their clientele. View Practice

 

 

These are but a few of the more than 220 practices available.   If you’ve never visited their site, or haven’t been there in awhile, point your browser in their direction.  

 

But you’d better pack a lunch.

 

There’s a lot to be gleaned there.

CIDRAP: More Promising Practices

 

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CIDRAP’s Promising Practices website is a repository of locally created preparedness programs that can serve as an outline for other communities to learn from or follow.  Local health departments, agencies, and volunteer groups have shared their experiences in the hopes that what they’ve learned can be of use to others.

 

I’ve blogged on this ongoing effort a number of times in the past, and whenever a new crop of practices gets posted, I like to highlight them.    Some past blogs include:

 

CIDRAP’s Promising Practices

CIDRAP: Promising Practices For Pandemic Planning

Promising Practices: Neighborhood Emergency Teams

Promising Practices: Psychological First Aid

 

If you are interested in starting a community preparedness program, rather than re-invent the wheel, a visit to this website makes a lot of sense.  

 

Here is how CIDRAP describes it:

 

Promising Practices News and Site Updates:

CIDRAP's Promising Practices site has undergone some exciting changes. Initially created to enhance preparedness, the Promising Practices collection is now being updated frequently to include useful strategies and practices in the H1N1 response. State and local health departments are sharing their stories to support one another and conserve resources in the face of this major public health challenge.

 

Public health planners and others can go to www.CIDRAPpractices.org to learn about timely H1N1 responses, including: prioritizing and distributing vaccines; distributing antivirals; reaching special groups; communicating about H1N1; and managing personal protective equipment.

 

Whether you're looking for tips on handling a school-based vaccination clinic, tracking PPE in healthcare facilities, or just trying to understand what it takes to meet the public's needs in an influenza pandemic, this site may provide you with useful tools and tips.

 

CIDRAP is working with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to bring you this collection of timely practices in H1N1 response. You can also submit your own practices for consideration by clicking "Submit a Practice" on the Web site home page. We hope you find these new practices helpful, and as always, your feedback is appreciated.

 

 

New practices on the site:

• School-Based H1N1 Vaccination Clinics at Each K-12 School (RI) includes recommendations, parent letters, consent forms, safety FAQs, posters, and videos useful in holding school vaccination clinics. View Practice
• The Minnesota H1N1 FluLine can recommend hospital evaluation or prescribe antivirals to callers with influenza symptoms. View Practice
• The Healthcare Facility Inventory of Respiratory Protection Equipment (MN) assists hospitals in assessing whether their respirator supply is adequate or requires conservation. View Practice
• Arkansas School-Based Vaccination Clinics describes the state's process for administering seasonal and H1N1 vaccine in more than 1,000 public and private schools. View Practice
• The Operational Framework for Partnering with Pharmacies for Administration of 2009 H1N1 Vaccine assists health departments in partnering with pharmacies as a resource for vaccination sites. View Practice
• H1N1 Materials in Multiple Languages: Basic Information, Special Groups, and School Vaccination Clinics (RI) includes basic information on H1N1, specific advisories that affect groups such as the homeless, and communication materials necessary for conducting a school vaccination clinic. View Practice
• H1N1 Foreign and Sign Language Resources (CO) provides posters, fact sheets, and multimedia in 32 languages. View Practice
• Emergency and Community Health Outreach (MN) has been updated with resources in 12 languages on H1N1 vaccination, vaccine priority groups, hand hygiene, and staying home when sick. View Practice
• H1N1 Fact Sheets in Multiple Languages (CT) provides materials in 8 languages, including information on communicating with children. View Practice
• H1N1 Public Service Announcements in American Sign Language provides overviews of H1N1 symptoms, prevention, and treatment. View Practice