THE NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT UMDNJ
UMDNJ - SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
NJCPHP News PHlash
SEPTEMBER 9 - SEPTEMBER 22 2006
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S:
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Post-9/11 Drop in Air Travel Delayed Flu Season, Study Finds- The Washington Post (9/12/06)
[2] Terror attacks, hurricanes: MED-1 is ready- The Charlotte Observer (9/14/06)
[3] Sickness shuts the courts- The Star-Ledger (9/15/06)
[4] Bid to Stockpile Bioterror Drugs Stymied by Setbacks- New York Times (9/18/06)
[5] Community college consortium to offer disaster preparedness degree- Mid-Hudson News Network (9/19/06)
II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] Community Preparedness: The Unmet Needs and the Public's Role in
Disasters (10/5/06)
[2] NJPHA 2006 Annual Meeting (10/19/06)
[3] CEI at APHA (11/5/06)
[4] The 7th Statewide Symposium of the NJ Universities Consortium on
Homeland Security (11/20/06)
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Psychosocial Aspects of Disaster Response for Public Health
Professionals
[2] Providence Journal Hurricane Series
[3] Annals of Internal Medicine
I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS:
[1] Post-9/11 Drop in Air Travel Delayed Flu Season, Study Finds- The Washington Post (9/12/06)
The decline in U.S. air travel that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks delayed the onset of that year's annual flu outbreak and slowed its spread around the country, according to a new analysis that could help health officials decide whether to impose flight restrictions in the event of a global flu pandemic. The delay was modest -- flu deaths peaked about two weeks later than usual that winter -- and by the time the season was over, the same number of people had died from the disease as in a typical year. But pandemic flu is expected to be much more deadly than conventional flu, so having a few weeks of extra time to deliver protective drugs or vaccines could make a big difference in total mortality, said the scientists who conducted the study. "Flu spreads exponentially, and the more that's out there, the faster it spreads," said Kenneth D. Mandl, a physician with the Children's Hospital Informatics Program in Boston, who led the study with Harvard epidemiologist John S. Brownstein. "So anything you can do early on to reduce cases could have fairly large downstream positive effects." The researchers and others also emphasized, however, that there are many reasons to think twice about imposing travel restrictions to stem the spread of a communicable disease, including economic impact, social disruption and even the ability to ship drugs to where they are needed most.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/11/AR200609...
[2] Terror attacks, hurricanes: MED-1 is ready- The Charlotte Observer (9/14/06)
Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt toured Carolinas Medical Center's hospital-on-wheels Wednesday, pronouncing MED-1 a "national treasure" that the federal government and other states will look to as they gear up for all manner of disasters -- terrorist attacks, pandemics, hurricanes. "People all over the country are looking at North Carolina as the model -- and for good reason," said Secretary Leavitt. "What you have here is state of the art. Delighted to see it." Charlotte-based MED-1, the only unit of its kind in the country, has already proved its mettle -- twice. After Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, its doctors and nurses treated 7,500 patients in seven weeks in Mississippi. The mobile ER sped to New Orleans this year, helping the city's hospitals with an overflow of patients during Mardi Gras.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/15514111.htm
[3] Sickness shuts the courts- The Star-Ledger (9/15/06)
A suspected case of Legionnaires' disease prompted the county to shut down the Mercer County criminal court house. Carol Green, an independent title searcher in the county clerk's office on the first floor of the annex of old courthouse, was taken to Capital Health System at Mercer hospital. Her family has told her co-workers at the courthouse that Green had been diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease. She was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit yesterday, a hospital spokesman said. Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, said, "We are taking extraordinary steps based on the presumption that the patient does have Legionnaire's disease and will take whatever steps necessary to ensure the safety of the workers at the courthouse. The county epidemiologist and the Centers for Disease Control have assured us there is no reason to close the courthouse and annex but we are erring on the side of caution."
http://www.nj.com/news/times/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1158293394203470.xml...
[4] Bid to Stockpile Bioterror Drugs Stymied by Setbacks- New York Times (9/18/06)
Project BioShield is $5.6 billion effort to exploit the country’s top medical and scientific brains and fill an emergency medical cabinet with new drugs and vaccines for a host of threats. “We will rally the great promise of American science and innovation to confront the greatest danger of our time,” President Bush said in starting the program. But the project, critics say, has largely failed to deliver.
So far, only a small fraction of the anticipated remedies are available. Drug companies have waited months, if not years, for government agencies to decide which treatments they want and in what quantities. Unable to attract large pharmaceutical corporations to join the endeavor, the government is instead relying on small start-up companies that often have no proven track record.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/washington/18anthrax.html?ex=115924320...
[5] Community college consortium to offer disaster preparedness degree- Mid-Hudson News Network (9/19/06)
The new Hudson Valley Domestic Preparedness Community College Consortium will allow students throughout the Hudson Valley to take classes on the campuses of Ulster, Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties and receive a degree in emergency management, fire protection technology, emergency medical services, cyber security and basic police training. The funding for the program was obtained by New York state senators in the 2006-2007 state budget. Funding will provide for new state of the art distance learning facilities and labs for consortium programs. Through the Consortium, the participating colleges will grant Associate Degrees and Certificates to prepare graduates for careers in emergency medical services, fire protection science, law enforcement, emergency management and cyber-security.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/ComColl_emergPrep-19Sep06.htm
II. UPCOMING EVENTS:
[1] Community Preparedness: The Unmet Needs and the Public's Role in
Disasters (10/5/06) This daylong conference focuses on the unmet needs of
disaster preparedness in the community setting and how the public can
prepare for disasters. A variety of disasters will be discussed including:
9/11, Katrina, Wilma, tornadoes, pandemic flu and the lessons learned from
these events. By the end of the conference, participants will have learned
about models of community preparedness, the role of the public in mitigating
disasters, and how to ultimately survive. Date: Thursday, October 5, 2006
Location: New Jersey Hospital Association, 760 Alexander Road, Princeton, NJ
Time: Registration 8:30 am, Conference 9:00 am – 3:30 pm Cost: $25.00
(continental breakfast and lunch are provided) Please contact Amelia Muccio
at 609-275-8886 ext.24 or amuccio@njpca.org for conference information.
Please contact Suzanne Geiger at 609-275-8886 ext.15 or sgeiger@njpca.org
for brochure.
[2] NJPHA 2006 Annual Meeting (10/19/06)
The New Jersey Public Health Association Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, October 19, 2006 from 4-7 pm at the Rutgers University - Bloustein School of Public Policy in New Brunswick. The topic of this year’s Annual Meeting is “Public Health in the Next Five Years: Where are we going?” The keynote speaker will be Dr. John Lumpkin, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President of the Robert Wood John Foundation. New Jersey Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, Dr. Fred M. Jacobs, will also speak. The meeting will also include the annual NJPHA awards presentation. Registration information will be sent in the near future, and will be posted on the NJPHA website http://www.njpha.org <http://www.njpha.org/> . Please reserve the date and plan to attend this important meeting.
[3] CEI at APHA (11/5/06) The New Jersey Center for Public Health
Preparedness will be presenting “Developing a State-based Public Health
Leadership Training Program for Emergency Response” at the American Public
Health Association Annual Meeting. The three-hour presentation will be part
of the Continuing Education Institute. It will be presented on Sunday,
November 5, 2006 from 2:30 – 5:00 pm at the Convention Center in Boston,
Massachusetts. For more information and to register, please visit
http://www.apha.org
[4] The 7th Statewide Symposium of the NJ Universities Consortium on
Homeland Security (11/20/06) Rutgers University will hose the 7th Statewide
Symposium of the NJ Universities Consortium on Homeland Security. The
symposium will feature overviews of emerging and ongoing research projects
in the area of homeland security and a keynote address by Richard Canas,
Director, NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. It will be held
on Monday, November 20, 2006 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Multipurpose
Room of the Busch Campus Center, Rutgers University. Registration is free.
For more information: http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/workshops/consortiumsymp/
For a complete listing of preparedness training events and educational
course offerings, please visit the ASPH Centers for Public Health
Preparedness Online Education Calendar at:
http://www.asph.org/acphp/educationCalendar.cfm
III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Psychosocial Aspects of Disaster Response for Public Health
Professionals
"Psychosocial Aspects of Disaster Response for Public Health Professionals"
online course is available at the following link:
http://www.njcphp.org/distancelearning/pabdr.cfm. This online course
intends to (1) Introduce public health professionals to the psychosocial
aspects of chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological (CBNR) terrorism;
(2) Describe the differences in reactions between CBNR events and other
types of disasters; (3) Explore the basics of crisis assessment and early
psychological intervention following a CBNR disaster. Knowledge gain of
these learning objectives can be tested via the accompanying quiz that
follows the course. Continuing education credits are pending for this
course. Please contact Center Manager Emily Perry at perryem@umdnj.edu to
pursue credits.
[2] Providence Journal Hurricane Series
The Providence Journal has published a six-part series examining the
strengths and weaknesses of the state’s hurricane plan and offering advice
on how to prepare for natural disasters. Topics include power,
communications, evacuation, shelters, and response. To read the articles,
visit http://www.projo.com/extra/2006/hurricane.
[3] Annals of Internal Medicine
The July 18 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine features three influenza
articles. “The Health Care Response to Pandemic Influenza” is a pandemic
planning position paper by the American College of Physicians. "Planning for
Avian Influenza,” by Dr. John Barlett and the third is an eyewitness account
of the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic “Influenza in 1918: Recollections of
the Epidemic in Philadelphia.” They can be viewed at: www.annals.org.
For more information, or to view the NJCPHP News PHlash Archive, please
visit us at: www.njcphp.org
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