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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Addressing the Emergency
Preparedness Needs of Long-Term
Care Facilities in Chicago
Suzet M. McKinney, DrPH, MPHDeputy Commissioner
Bureau of Public Health Preparedness and Emergency ResponseJune 2010 Board of Health Meeting
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Background
• Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of
2006 (Federal)
• Special/Vulnerable/At-risk Populations
• DEFINITION:
– “Children, senior citizens, pregnant women, disabled,
institutionalized, elderly, diverse cultures, limited
English proficiency or non-English speaking,
transportation disadvantaged, chronic medical
disorders, pharmacologically dependent”
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Planning for At-Risk Populations
“When our public health emergency plans protect and serve
the most vulnerable in our community, all people are better
positioned to survive, thrive and prosper.”
- Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director, CARD (Collaborating Agencies
Responding to Disasters), Oakland, California
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Reaching At-Risk Populations
is a Partnership
• LTC Networks
– Key Human Service
Agencies
– Knows At-Risk Clients
– Trusted Entity
• Public Health
– Long-Term Care Advisory
Group
– Technical Assistance
– Health, Safety Info
– Provision of Resources
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Planning: Vision & Aim
• Vision: Work collaboratively with community partners to ensure that no one group is more impacted than another in an emergency.
• Aim: Assure access to public health preparedness, response & recovery information and services for the most at-risk and hardest to reach residents in Chicago through collaborations with at risk populations and the organizations that serve them.
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
LTC Emergency Planning
• Engage the State Office for Aging or equivalent in addressing the emergency preparedness needs of the elderly
• Long-Term Care Advisory Group (late 2007)– IL Council on LTC
– IL Healthcare Association
– Life Services Network
– Hospitals
– Mather Lifeways
– Collaborative Healthcare Urgency Group (CHUG)
– Chicago Dept. on Aging Ombudsman’s Office (now part of DFSS)
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
LTC Emergency Planning Timeline
• Capacity Assessment Survey (March 2008)
• Lunch & Learn Sessions (July 2008)
• Focus Groups (August-November 2008)
• Training, Education (December 2008-Present)
• PPE (2009)
• Exercises (May 2010)
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Planning: Assessment
• GOAL: Increase our understanding of long term care
facility (LTC) needs
– Identify LTCs (114 116)
– Have conversations & identify needs
– Prioritize gaps in capacity
– Work collaboratively to address EP needs; provide available
resources
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Assessment
• Collecting and analyzing data– Approved By The Three Long Term Care Associations in
Illinois (LSN, IHCA,& IC).
– Distribution of assessment was sent by fax, mass mailing,
and via phone calls to 114 LTCs in Chicago.
– 71% Response Rate (partial responses among
respondents)
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Assessment Results (selected)
• Written Emergency Operations Plan: 68/81 facilities
• Reviewed annually: 59/70
• Plans compliant w/ Natl. Incident Mgmt System?: 12/78
• Maintain Personal Protective Equipment stock: 60/77
• Regular training: 76/80
• Tabletop Exercises: 17/81
• Fire, Evacuation Drills: 79/81
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
LTC Requests
• Continuous preparedness training
• Development of communication between LTCs and City
emergency management teams
• Seminars re: emergency response and coordination of
response protocols
• Revision/enhancement of current plans (in some cases,
development)
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Planning: Capacity Building
• Ensure LTCs are prepared to continue service delivery in
an emergency; and have the skills and capacity to train
their staff (and clients) to provide basic response and
recovery services
• LTC emergency plans: ~ maintain operations during and/or
after an emergency
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Implementation: Training & Education
• Technical assistance for plan development, training and
exercising
• Opportunities to learn from other LTCs
• Opportunities to participate in citywide exercises
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
Smith Village Evacuation Exercise
• Chicago’s only Southwest side continuing care retirement community which offers Independent Living residences, and services for those persons requiring Assisted Living, Alzheimer’s and Memory Support services and Skilled Nursing Care services.
• This exercise represented a major milestone in CDPH’s 2-year effort to improve the level and quality of emergency preparedness capacity among the City’s 116 long-term care facilities. CDPH continues to work with LTCs in assessing hazards and vulnerabilities of their facilities, developing appropriate plans to address these hazards, training LTC staff in principles of ICS and exercising plans most relevant and important to the overall preparedness of these facilities.
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Capabilities Tested
• On-site Incident Management
– Implementation of ICS
– Command & Control
– Triage
• Communication (radio)
• Patient Evacuation
– Simple and complex cases
• Evacuation Time Study
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Triage & Radio to IC
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Equipment
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Equipment
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Simple/Complex Cases
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Transport and Time Study
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
Bechara Choucair, MDCommissioner
The Reason Why We Do What We Do
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Richard M. DaleyMayor
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Comments/Questions
