Please submit your events  by mid-February to the March, 2010 edition of EP Monthly through
the following online form. We would love to share our resources and opportunities
with the growing New England EP Monthly community.

Trainings/Exercises:

Incident Command System (ICS) 300 Training -- Lincoln County
Date: Tuesday,February 9, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Lincoln County EOC, 34 Bath Road, Wiscasset‚ Maine
Contact: Kimberley L. White-Kaiser (kim902@co.lincoln.me.us), 207-882-7559

WebEOC Training -- Waldo County
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010
Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Waldo County EMA, 45A Congress Street, Belfast‚ Maine
Contact: Dale Rowley (emadirector@waldocountyme.gov) 207-338-3870

Incident Command System (ICS) 300 Training -- Lincoln County
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Lincoln County EOC, 34 Bath Road, Wiscasset‚ Maine
Contact: Kimberley L. White-Kaiser (kim902@co.lincoln.me.us) 207-882-7559

Incident Command System (ICS) 300 Training -- Lincoln County
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Lincoln County EOC, 34 Bath Road, Wiscasset‚ Maine
contact: Kimberley L. White-Kaiser (kim902@co.lincoln.me.us) 207-882-7559

Incident Command System (ICS) 300 Training -- Lincoln County
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: Lincoln County EOC, 34 Bath Road, Wiscasset‚ Maine
Contact: Kimberley L. White-Kaiser (kim902@co.lincoln.me.us) 207-882-7559

Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program Toolkit Training Course
Date: Friday, February 26, 2010
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Overview: "The Maine Emergency Management Agency will be conducting a toolkit training on the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)."
All applications should be submitted via FEMA FEMA 75-5 training application form
Contact: Jeremy Damren, 207-624-4400

Web-Based Training Program:
Maine's Elders and Emergencies: Working for the Future
Overview: "The Maine Center for Public Health, the Maine Office of Elder Services and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maine Emergency Management Agency and the Harvard School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Preparedness (HSPH-CPHP) are pleased to present an online course intended to improve emergency preparedness planning for and among the elderly population titled: "Maine's Elders and Emergencies: Working for the Future." This course is designed for city and state officials, representatives of community-based organizations and other service providers, adult caregivers, first responders, elder adults, and any individual who wants to participate in promoting emergency preparedness for elder community needs. This course will provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary to prepare and respond to elders in an emergency. It is professionally narrated and has non-graded quizzes that will allow one to test their responses as well as printable facts and other downloadable information. We encourage you to share this online course with anyone involved in emergency preparedness or other groups/individuals who may benefit from it."

User name: Elder
Password: Elder
***Please note, the above user name and password are case-sensitive****
Certificates of completion will be sent via us mail 4-6 weeks from time of course completion.
Contact: Rubim Rwakabuba, 617-384-9696

Webcast:

The Management of Epidemic Disease
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 1:00-2:30 PM ET
Overview: “Population growth, societal aging, urbanization, rapid transportation, economic interdependence, and emerging infectious disease have expanded community vulnerability far beyond what could have been imagined a few generations ago. But, an expansion of medical technology has provided an array of tools and techniques for therapeutics and public health disease management never before imagined. Program faculty will examine disease as a social event in an evolving global community and discuss why applying new systems and science is critical for tomorrow’s public health professional.”
Contact: alphtn@adph.state.al.us or 334-206-5618

Research:

Usefulness of Simulated Case for Assessing Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Plans
Cardeñosa N, Domínguez A, Carratalà J, Ricarte JI, Jansà JM, Arnau J, Camps N, Chanovas M, Mas A, Trilla A.
“Accepted Article”; doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2009.03144.x
Overview: "The actuations of health professionals in compliance with protocols in the different phases of an influenza pandemic are essential. In order to evaluate compliance with preparedness plans, actors simulating avian influenza attended various hospital emergency departments and public health centres during the last quarter of 2007. Most centres (89%) did not respond correctly. The useful information obtained was sent to the medical and administrative staff responsible for preparedness plans. Awareness of these errors and their rectification can lead to improvements in the response to any case of influenza with pandemic potential and in the capacity to combat any other emergent or re-emergent community infection."

Influenza A/pandemic 2009/H1N1 in the setting of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: a potentially catastrophic problem in a vulnerable population.
Kharfan-Dabaja MA, Velez A, Richards K, Greene JN, Field T, Sandin R.
The Japanese Society of Hematology, December 16, 2009
Overview: "We describe Influenza A/pandemic 2009/H1N1 in two allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients. The main presentation in both cases consisted of flu-like symptoms manifesting as, fever, arthralgias and myalgias. The virus was isolated in one case from a throat swab and in another case following a bronchoalveolar lavage. Both patients received oseltamivir at a dose of 75 mg orally twice day. The dose of oseltamivir was increased to 150 mg twice per day due to the lack of improvement or progression of symptoms. In one case, clinical symptoms resolved without sequelae. In the second case, pulmonary symptomatology continued to deteriorate, despite aggressive polymicrobial treatment, requiring mechanical ventilation and ultimately the patient died from respiratory failure. These cases highlight the potentially serious effect of the ongoing Influenza A/pandemic 2009/H1N1 pandemic in this very vulnerable population and the urgent need to establish emergency preparedness strategies by oncology and bone marrow transplantation staff to face this serious healthcare challenge."

Conference:

Annual Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness Conference and Exposition (TCIP 2010)
Date: Tuesday, February 2 –Thursday, February 4, 2010
Time: Agenda
Location: Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, 1201 Market Street, Philadelphia
Overview:“TCIP 2010 will bring together key leaders and decision makers in a unique forum with responders, business and industry, academia, and local, tribal, state and federal stakeholders to collaboratively address critical incident technology and preparedness needs, protocols, and solutions.  Focusing on prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, this three-day event will highlight the technology and training tools available (and in development) for the emergency responder community to effectively manage all hazards and incidents. The 2010 Conference will be hosted by the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice, The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, and the Department of Defense's Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs.”
Contact: Jessica Clark (jclark@palladianpartners.com), 301-650-8660, ext. 272

Public Health Preparedness Summit 2010
Date: Tuesday, February 16 to Friday, February 19
Location: Atlanta, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 
Overview: "The 2010 Public Health Preparedness Summit, "Partners in Preparedness: Engaging a Community for a Successful Public Health Response," will strengthen and enhance the capabilities of public-health professionals and other participants to plan and prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other public-health emergencies."
Contact: Jack Herrmann (phprep@naccho.org)

Save the Date:
An Emergency Preparedness Conference on Health Care Surge Issues will be held on Monday, April 12, 2009 at the Augusta Civic Center.  Additional details will be available soon.  The meeting is being organized by the Maine CDC and its Regional Resource Centers and the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Public Health Emergency Preparedness.  For further information contact Mike Leyden at the HSPH at the following email address: mleyden@hsph.harvard.edu