Ashley Conley Division of Public Health & Community Services Nashua, NH Michael Heumann HeumannHealth Consulting Portland, OR
Ashley Conley
Division of Public Health
& Community Services
Nashua, NH
Michael Heumann
HeumannHealth Consulting
Portland, OR
1. Provide an overview of key activities related to disaster epidemiology
2. Identify opportunities for involvement and discussion regarding current and planned efforts
3. Discuss ideas about future activities and directions
Use of core public health capabilities to assist leaders and decision-makers with timely information for disaster response & recovery ◦ Tracking and surveillance
◦ Assessments and investigations
◦ Research
Characterize short and long-term health consequences
Integrates into the Incident Command System
Provide situational
awareness
Identify risk factors
Improve prevention,
response, recovery
and mitigation
strategies for future
disasters
◦ Capability 1: Community
Preparedness
◦ Capability 2: Community Recovery
◦ Capability 5: Fatality Management
◦ Capability 7: Mass Care
◦ Capability 10: Medical Surge
◦ Capability 13: PH Surveillance and
Epidemiological Investigations
◦ Capability 14: Responder Safety
and Health
The Disaster-Management Cycle Humanitarian Action ◄▬▬▬► Sustainable development
Disaster Epidemiology Activities
Prevention/
Mitigation
Preparedness
Disaster Impact
Rehabilitation
Recovery
Response
Surveillance - Affected communities - Responders
Rapid needs assessments
Tracking Registries
Epidemiologic studies
Evaluation studies - Relief programs - Other interventions
Studies to compare efficacy of control strategies and interventions
Goals: ◦ Strengthen capacity to respond by integrating DE into
the emergency management cycle
◦ Help public health and emergency management
leadership understand essential role of DE
◦ Identify common set of capabilities to support collection
and use of epidemiologic information during emergency
response situations
Incorporating 15 minute guest lectures on hot
topics in DE
Networking opportunity with colleagues
Ability to share information and resources with
colleagues
Disaster Mental Health Surveillance ◦ National Assessment Report
◦ Outreach to partner organizations
◦ Proposed mini-summit
Toolkit ◦ Gather examples of DE tools
◦ Develop FAQs
◦ Create CSTE DE website – link with DECoP
Capacity-building in CASPER, ERHMS, ACE
Partnership with NCEH & NIOSH (OPHPR funded)
◦ Two-day course in six regions
TX, FL, LA, NY, VA, VT
>350 trained
◦ Future courses in Mid-West
and West Coast states
Disaster Epidemiology 101: Applied partnering with epidemiologists during disasters
Disaster Epidemiology Town Hall
Reached >120 people from ◦ 28 states (State & Local Health Departments)
◦ 8 Federal agencies
◦ 5 universities
◦ 5 organizations
66% PHEP staff, 29% Epids, 5% Med Dirs
What in this session was new? ◦ Learning about CSTE
◦ Learning about epidemiology
◦ Application of DE in PH response
What is one aspect of DE that could improve your PH response? ◦ Build DE into PHEP EOP ◦ Tools and training ◦ Coordination ◦ Planning
What do you want to learn more about? ◦ Training
◦ Tools/forms/survey templates
◦ How to make DE relevant to partners
◦ Collaboration and integration
◦ Information and dissemination
Recommendations for CSTE
“The Role of Applied Epidemiology Methods in
the Disaster Management Cycle”
Accepted for publication
in AJPH
Prevention/
Mitigation
Preparedness
Disaster Impact
Rehabilitation
Recovery
Response
Webinar with CSTE Epi Methods on May 1, 2014
Looking into creating a document that crosswalks
DE tools with the PHEP Capabilities
Over the past couple of years the use of DE is becoming more common in local and state responses
◦ Super Storm Sandy
◦ Ammonia plant explosion in Texas
◦ 2013 Tornados in Oklahoma
◦ Coal ash release in West Virginia
Attendees: ◦ 78% Epidemiologists
◦ 11% PHEP Staff
◦ 6% Nurse
Comments/Suggestions: ◦ Expanding partnerships such as the NWS, ARC, FEMA
◦ More discussion on legal issues and preparedness
◦ More time for discussion and Q&A
◦ More partnering with emergency management
◦ Include social media, climate change and behavioral health in workshop
◦ Include more local health departments and tribal reps
◦ More interaction with webinar participants
NIEHS/NIH pilot program to ◦ Develop a disaster research system consisting of
Coordinated environmental health disaster research data
collection tools
A network of trained “Research Responders”
◦ Mobilize researchers and community engagement teams
at the Core EHS Centers in a prompt and safe manner in
the aftermath of a disaster.
Questionnaires, clinical protocols, EH disaster research
networks to be activated and deployed in declared
emergencies
IOM/NIH/CDC workshop on medical and public
health research in disasters ◦ Interest in enabling and executing research during
disasters
To inform future policies and decisions
Establish a research agenda
Determine how to best implement ideas
◦ CSTE will participate and discuss some of the
methodologies promoted through DE Subcommittee
Sunday Workshop ◦ Environmental Health and Disaster Epidemiology:
Harmony Between Collaborations and Innovations
Sessions ◦ 6/23/14 from 10:30-12:00PM: 911 for Communities:
Disaster Recovery and Response
◦ 6/23/14 from 2:00-3:30PM: Don't Step On My Blue
Suede Shoes ‐ Disaster and Environmental Epidemiology
Surveillance
Roundtable Discussions: ◦ 6/23/14 from 1:00-1:45PM: CSTE Disaster Epidemiology
Subcommittee: Impacting Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery Using Epidemiology
◦ 6/24/14 from 5:45-6:30PM: Twitiuational Awareness: Gaining Situational Awareness Via Crowdsourced #Disaster Epidemiology
◦ 6/25/14 from 7:15-8:00AM: Mental Health Surveillance for Public Health Response to Disasters
◦ 6/25/14 from 1:00-1:45PM: Lessons Learned from a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) in a Frontier County — Dawson County, Montana, 2013
What is our vision for DE?
Where do we see DE going in the next 10 years?
Reactions to CSTE DE Subcommittee activities
Ideas and recommendations for additional activity
areas for CSTE
Ashley Conley
City of Nashua
Division of Public Health &
Community Services
Nashua, NH 03060
Michael Heumann
HeumannHealth Consulting
LLC, Portland, OR 97212
For the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)