From the FEMA: Children & Disasters Newsletter
James Hirsch, a Region 7 member of FEMA’s YPC, wanted to learn if practice helps people prepare for emergencies like it does for a test or in sports. He decided to teach elementary students in Kansas City, MO, about preparedness. He first engaged teachers at two schools in his area—Kellybrook and Shoal Creek Elementary School—to administer a pre-test. The results helped him gauge the students’ existing knowledge about how to prepare for emergencies.

When it comes to prevention, identification, and mitigation of public health crises states are at the forefront. These crises require a multi-sector state agency approach as often they disproportionally impact disadvantaged communities and are linked with challenging social determinants of health.
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Emergency responders who may unknowingly come into contact with the rapid-acting synthetic opioid fentanyl or its analogues (e.g., acetylfentanyl, butyrfentanyl, carfentanil, alfentanil, sufentanil, and remifentanil) face significant and potentially fatal health hazards, states the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in interim guidance released on November 28, 2016. ​

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.