THE NEW JERSEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AT UMDNJ
UMDNJ - SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

NJCPHP News PHlash

MARCH 11 2006 - MARCH 24 2006

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS
[1] Alaska villagers to help bird flu survey- AP (3/11/06)
[2] US Quarantine System is First Line of Defense- NPR (3/17/06)
[3] Making St. Cloud safe, in all languages: Tornado drill will test multi-lingual response- St. Cloud Times (3/17/06)
[4] Grocer will be ready for disaster- Bradenton Herald (3/20/06)
[5] Learning from Disaster: The Role of Federalism and the Importance of Grassroots Response- The Heritage Foundation (3/21/06)

II. UPCOMING EVENTS
[1] PFLASH for Public Health Professionals (3/27/06)
[2] Learning from Katrina: Tough Lessons in Preparedness and Emergency Response (3/31/06)
[3] The 11th Annual Public Health Symposium (4/3/06)
[4] Zoonotic Diseases & West Nile Virus Conference (4/6/06)
[5] Public Health & Mental Health Response: Psychological First Aid (4/27/06)
[6] International Forums on Preparedness in Florence, Italy (4/24/06-4/28/06)
[7] Pandemic Planning: Breaking Down the Barriers Between Science, Policy, and Politics (4/29/06)
[8] New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference (5/11/06 and 5/12/06)

III. ANNOUNCEMENTS
[1] Governor Corzine names Director of Homeland Security and Preparedness
[2] Pandemic Flu Planning Assignment
[3] APHIS: Safeguarding the US from highly-pathogenic avian influenza
[4] Avian Influenza Response from USAID
[5] The Nursing Center for Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases Preparedness- Online Course Offerings

I. PREPAREDNESS NEWS:
[1] Alaska villagers to help bird flu survey- AP (3/11/06) Deborah Rocque, avian influenza coordinator in Alaska for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says her agency will work with others to test at least 15,000 birds in Alaska. "We feel pretty confident that if it is here, our sampling plan will be able to detect it," she said. While most birds will be tested live, several thousand hunter-killed birds also will be checked and will require the help of local subsistence hunters. They'll be asked to bring their catch to a check station where technicians will swab the birds for fecal matter. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-03-11-alaska-bird-flu-study_x.htm?csp=34

[2] US Quarantine System is First Line of Defense- NPR (3/17/06) The federal government is increasing the number of health officers posted at airports, and the metropolitan area is getting its second international quarantine station at Newark Liberty International Airport. The Centers for Disease Control considers this the first line of detection and defense against the spread of disease and a possible pandemic. The transcript and the mp3 of the discussion is available on-line.
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/58184

[3] Making St. Cloud safe, in all languages: Tornado drill will test multi-lingual response- St. Cloud Times (3/17/06) The language barrier poses a hurdle for those responding to a crisis and relaying information in St. Cloud, Minnesota. As the region prepares for a crisis like the avian flu, it became apparent that multi-language needs had not been addressed in its current public health disaster plan, and has prompted emergency officials to test themselves. "We have lots of different languages, and that's one of the bigger challenges we're facing right now,"
said Marv Klug, emergency management director for St. Cloud. Klug is now coordinating a drill that will simulate a tornado that will test the ability to respond to non-English speaking victims.
http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/NEWS01/103170005/
1009

[4] Grocer will be ready for disaster- Bradenton Herald (3/20/06) Florida's Supermarket Publix is going to spend $100 million on generators, 400 of them in all of its stores in high-risk parts of the country plus portable units at many other stores in lower-risk areas. The author of this opinion piece feels that this decision is about being a good corporate citizen as well satisfying the needs of the communities that this business serves, and it is about the realization that the primary responsibility for preparedness rests on the private sector and the family unit, not government.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/opinion/14138953.htm

[5] Learning from Disaster: The Role of Federalism and the Importance of Grassroots Response- The Heritage Foundation (3/21/06) The authors of this paper feel that the principles of federalism produces the best results for homeland security undertakings. Preparedness and response programs run by Washington bureaucrats that diminish the role and responsibilities of state and local governments will not make Americans safer.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandDefense/bg1923.cfm

II. UPCOMING EVENTS:

[1] PFLASH for Public Health Professionals (3/27/06) NJCPHP will sponsor the one-day training PFLASH: Practical Front-Line Assistance for Support and Healing on Monday, March 27th, 2006 at the Bergen County EMS Training Center in Paramus, NJ. All public health professionals and first responders are invited to attend.
For more information and to register, visit http://ophp.umdnj.edu, and click on "Enrollment Card."

[2] Learning from Katrina: Tough Lessons in Preparedness and Emergency Response (3/31/06) A National Live Satellite Broadcast and Webcast on Friday, March 31, 2006 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET Continuing education (CE) credits will be provided. For more information and to view the webcast, please visit http://www.publichealthgrandrounds.unc.edu/

[3] The 11th Annual Public Health Symposium (4/3/06) The 11th Annual Public Health Symposium "Partners in Designing Healthy Communities" will be held on April 3, 2006 at 4:00pm at UMDNJ- Great Hall RWJ Medical School. For more information, vist www.publichealthsymposium.org

[4] Zoonotic Diseases & West Nile Virus Conference (4/6/06) The NJ Health Officers Association and the NJ Department of Health & Senior Services will hold the Zoonotic Diseases & West Nile Virus Conference on April 6 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. 1.75 LE & 3.25 CE (5.0 credits total) toward the Health Officer and Registered Environmental Health Specialist licenses have been approved for this meeting. For more information and to register, please visit: https://njlmn.rutgers.edu

[5] Public Health & Mental Health Response: Psychological First Aid (4/27/06) NJ-PTC partner the UMDNJ School of Public Health offers this training that will focus on enhancing the knowledge of public health professionals on the psychosocial aspects of disaster response & bioterrorism. Public health professionals will learn the psychological response to critical incidents so they can diminish the risk of hysteria in the population at large. The 2-hour training will be on April 27, 2006 at the Salem County Vocational School. 2 CEs and 2 CHES credits.

For more information and to register, visit http://ophp.umdnj.edu, and click on NJPTC under "Seminars and Events."

[6] International Forums on Preparedness in Florence, Italy (4/24/06-4/28/06)
New York University's International Center for Enterprise Preparedness (InterCEP), the world's first academic center dedicated to private sector preparedness, is proud to host two international preparedness forums: International Public-Private Preparedness Summit http://www.nyu.edu/intercep/lapietra/preparedness.html, an exclusive two-day summit to promote public-private cooperation in emergencies and enable international sharing of business preparedness strategies and best practices; and International Conference on Emergency Preparedness Standardization http://www.nyu.edu/intercep/lapietra/standards.html a three-day conference to promote the development of an International Workshop Agreement (IWA), to be published by the International Organization on Standardization (ISO <http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage> ), to respond to the critical need for an international standard for emergency preparedness.
For more information, please visit http://www.nyu.edu/intercep/lapietra/

[7] Pandemic Planning: Breaking Down the Barriers Between Science, Policy, and Politics (4/29/06) UMDNJ's Pandemic Influenza Task Force with the NJ Association for Biomedical Research and the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services are sponsoring this conference, Pandemic Planning: Breaking Down the Barriers Between Science, Policy, and Politics. The keynote speaker will be Gina Kolata, author of "FLU" and science writer for the New York Times.

Date: Saturday, April 29, 2006
Location: UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Auditorium, Piscataway, NJ Registration: $50
For more information, please visit: http://www.njcphp.org/FTFevent.cfm

[8] New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference (5/11/06 and 5/12/06) The New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association's Annual Conference provides training and coordination and promotes the development of public & private partnerships in planning, response, recovery and mitigation in all types of emergencies. It will be held at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. For more information: http://www.njepa.org/

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] Governor Corzine names Director of Homeland Security and Preparedness Governor Jon S. Corzine signed an Executive Order creating the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (HSP) and named Richard L. Cañas to the cabinet-level post. Cañas, who will report directly to the Governor, has a 34-year career in law enforcement and intelligence. As director, Cañas will coordinate across all levels of government and the private sector, serving as principle advisor to the Governor on homeland security issues. This strategy will allow the office to adopt an "all-hazards" approach by combining various security aspects under one structure while drawing on the existing expertise of all agencies. The office will specifically focus on emergency preparedness, training, funding and counter-terrorism.

[2] Pandemic Flu Planning Assignment- Currently University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh students enrolled in Virology are working on group assignments to develop pandemic flu plans specific to Winnebago County/the Oshkosh, Wisconsin community. This web site serves as an outreach portal for the project. The class instructor is Dr. Teri Shors. For more information:
http://www.uwosh.edu/projects/fluplanning

[3] APHIS: Safeguarding the US from highly-pathogenic avian influenza
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released a fact sheet on their actions, plans, and capabilities for addressing the bird flu threat.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_ahhpaiplan.html

[4] Avian Influenza Response from USAID- The US Agency of International Development has a section on their website devoted to avian influenza.
USAID is working to ensure an effective and coordinated approach to this economic and public health threat.
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/home/News/news_items/avian_influ
enza.html

[5] The Nursing Center for Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases Preparedness in collaboration with the Rutgers College of Nursing Center for Professional Development present online course offerings for nurses and other public health professionals. Eight different courses are being offered on topics including biological weapons, infection control, and psychosocial care. For more information, including how to register, go to http://nursing.rutgers.edu/cpd/ or call The Center for Professional Development at
(973)353-5895.

For more information, or to view the NJCPHP News PHlash Archive, please visit us at: www.njcphp.org

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The New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness at UMDNJ, UMDNJ-School of Public Health does not claim responsibility for accuracy of facts and information presented. All opinions expressed are those of the original authors and do not represent the views of NJCPHP staff or affiliates.
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