Contributed by John Hick, MD; Melissa Harvey, RN, MSPH; and Dan Hanfling, MD

​The Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) cooperative agreement is preparing to enter a new project period in summer 2017, to complement the newly-released 2017–2022 Health Care Preparedness and Response Capabilities. When it was originally launched in 2002, HPP concentrated on hospitals and emergency response. Over time, the focus shifted from hospital-based acute care to the importance of community-based planning and response activities, centered on the development of health care coalitions (HCCs). HCCs are groups of individual healthcare and response organizations, such as hospitals, EMS, public health agencies, emergency management, and others that have a stake in healthcare delivery in a geographic region. While individual HCC members are often competitive healthcare organizations with differing priorities and objectives, as a coalition they work together to ensure that each member has the necessary real-time information, medical equipment and supplies, communication systems, and healthcare personnel to respond to an emergency. 

Do 1 Thing is a national nonprofit based in the Lansing Office of Emergency Management. Started in 2006 as a primarily web-based program, Do1Thing has now turned into an award-winning program recognized by organizations such as the CDC and FEMA. Our 12-month program features a new preparedness theme each month and that are easy, cost-friendly tips to help individuals and business prepare for emergencies and disasters. You can learn more at www.do1thing.com.

The start of the 2016-17 flu season is here, and we have already seen sporadic flu activity in the State of Michigan. The first official week of the flu season was October 2 - 8, 2016. During this week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Bureau of Laboratories (BOL) confirmed the first two cases of influenza for this season as human seasonal influenza A/H3.

There’s a fire in your building. Your plane is about to crash. A woman beside you on the street suddenly collapses.
What do you do?

​Well, that depends. Every one of us is at risk for these kinds of unexpected intrusions into our day-to-day lives. What you do about it depends on whether or not you’re prepared – not just physically, but also mentally.

The New York Times discusses whether or not it is right to hunt for the very first first case in an outbreak.  
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