This work was supported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cooperative Agreement

1U01TP000576-01.

Public Health System Training in Disaster Recovery

(PH – STriDR)

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• To help local public health agency workers think about disaster recovery and the role of the individual employee and the health department in the community recovery process

Research Purpose

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• Training is voluntary. • Decision to participate has no impact on

employment status. • Your participation will not be communicated

to the researchers.• Participation poses minimal risks to you.– Please notify the instructor if you feel upset and

do not wish to continue.

Explanation of Research

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– Four Sessions:• Session 1: Disaster Recovery Activities in the Local Public

Health Agency • Session 2: Your Roles and Responsibilities in Disaster

Recovery• Session 3: Personal/Family and Workplace Support Issues

and Resources• Session 4: What does a successful disaster recovery look

like?

– PowerPoint presentations, small group discussions, large group discussions, individual activities

We value your knowledge and experience in this area and your participation is encouraged!

Training Program Structure

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• Date, time, location• How you will be notified of updates

Session Schedule

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Session 1: Disaster Recovery Activities in the Local Public Health Agency

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• Trainer Introduction • Learner Introductions– Please go around the room and state your name

and role in the health department.

Introductions

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• Session Duration: 90 minutes• Exit and Restroom Locations• “Parking Lot”• Please Silence Your Cell Phone

Administrative Issues

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• List various types of natural and human-generated disasters that are likely to occur in your area.

• Identify local public health agency recovery activities for disasters likely to occur in your area.

Learning Objectives

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“A sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and causes human, material, and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope using its own resources.”

(International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies)

Definition of Disaster

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• Globally, the number of natural and technological disasters has increased steadily since 1960, as has the number of people affected by disasters.

• Increasing severity of disaster impacts is influenced by the increase in magnitude of extreme weather events and an increase in exposure and vulnerability of human populations.

• What are some recent disasters?

Disaster Statistics

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U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration

“Emergency management is the continuous process by which all individuals, agencies, and levels of government manage hazards in an effort to avoid or reduce the impact of disasters resulting from the hazards.”

Local public health agencies have a role in all four phases, including disaster recovery.

Emergency Management Cycle

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• “[R]ecovery encompasses more than the restoration of a community’s physical structures to its pre-disaster conditions. Of equal importance is providing a continuum of care to meet the needs of the affected community members who have experienced the hardships of financial, emotional or physical impacts as well as positioning the community to meet the needs of the future.”– National Disaster Recovery Framework, 2011

What is Recovery?

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• The recovery phase can last a considerable length of time.

• Activities in the recovery phase can be very influential for the health and well-being of the community.

• Local public health workers have a significant role to play in community recovery.

• Disaster recovery is an opportunity to build a more resilient and healthier community.

• Disaster recovery is often overlooked, as focus has historically been on preparedness and response.

Why focus on recovery?

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National Disaster Recovery Framework, 2011.

• The recovery phase is often divided into the short-term (days to weeks), intermediate-term (weeks to months), and long-term (months to years) recovery phases.

• Decisions made early in the recovery process can have a cascading effect on recovery progress.

National Disaster Recovery Framework

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FEMA IS-230.c Fundamentals of Emergency Management

• Local and state health departments are part of a larger National Planning System that synchronizes planning from the individual to the national level.

• National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) are used to coordinate and communicate among levels.

System View of Recovery

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FEMA IS-230.c Fundamentals of Emergency Management

• Where is your agency in this diagram?• Thinking about the other levels in the diagram,

who else does your agency coordinate with in disasters?

System View of Recovery

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• Ensuring the continuity of health care services• Monitoring environmental infrastructure• Assessing and providing referrals to meet the

needs of vulnerable populations• Initiating surveillance programs• Issuing health advisories and continuing open

communication with the public • Allocating resources to match the public health

needs of the disaster response and recovery• Restoring health services and environmental

safety to pre-event levels

Local Public Health Agency Recovery Roles and Responsibilities

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• Planning tools for assessing community risks and hazards include Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) and Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA).

• These can be used to assess the capability of a community to respond to and recover from specific hazards.

• They can be used within a health department to assess organizational risk and capability to respond and recover.

• Does the health department have one or both of these? Does the community?

Assessing Risk

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• If a jurisdictional or agency HVA or THIRA is available, share and discuss key points.

Full Group Discussion(Optional)

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• As a group, list any probable hazards in your community.

• Record the list on your flipchart. • Your trainer will transfer this list to the Master

Copy of the Disaster Recovery Activity Worksheet.

Full Group Discussion

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• Break into small groups to fill in the Disaster Recovery Activity Worksheet for one natural disaster and one human-generated disaster from the list that was just created.

• Please choose one person to complete the Disaster Recovery Activity Worksheet for your group.

• Be sure to return the completed worksheet to the instructor.

Small-Group Activity

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• A number of natural and/or human-generated disasters could impact your community.

• Your local public health agency can play a role in disaster recovery activities in your community.

• These roles fit into a larger planning framework that includes both individual-level planning and higher levels of government.

Summary of Main Points

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Questions?

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