VT: Hospitals to participate in Health Dept. exercise Wednesday

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Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/a.../NEWS/80609007

Hospitals to participate in Health Dept. exercise Wednesday
June 9, 2008

BURLINGTON -- Hospitals around the state will test their plans to respond to a surge of patients with a pandemic strain of influenza on Wednesday.

The one-day exercise will be held in coordination with the Vermont Department of Health and Vermont Emergency Management.

More than 100 hospital, public health and state government officials will play out their roles in the simulated emergency, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Health Operations Center in Burlington and the State Emergency Operations Center in Waterbury will coordinate the emergency response of hospitals to handle a surge of patients up to 30 percent beyond the average daily census.

Full details of the exercise scenario are known only to a few state employees and hospital personnel.

Pandemic influenza is a worldwide outbreak of a new and severe strain of influenza that can spread easily from person to person.

The Health Department has tested its pandemic flu plans with health, hospital and emergency officials multiple times beginning with a tabletop exercise in June 2005, and continuing with a large-scale two-week exercise "Operation Pandemic Flu" in July 2006 that involved hundreds of responders.

Other partner agencies that will play a major role in the exercise are the Vermont National Guard, the Department of Public Safety, and the Agency of Transportation.

The exercise is funded by the Vermont Department of Health, through federal grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program, and Homeland Security.

More information on pandemic flu is available at the Health Department's website at http://HealthVermont.gov, or the national Web site.

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Re: VT: Hospitals to participate in Health Dept. exercise Wednesday

Source: http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs....STIN/762214249

Hospitals test flu plans
10: 55 a.m.
June 9, 2008

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) _ On Wednesday, 11 Vermont hospitals will be working with the Health Department and Emergency Management to test their ability to respond to an influenza pandemic.

More than 100 officials will play out their roles in a simulated flu emergency.

The plan of the exercise will have the hospitals trying to cope with a 30 percent surge in patients caused by a theoretical flu outbreak.

The experts will also be tested on disease surveillance, investigation and control measures, rapid exchange of information and the simulated delivery of information to health care providers and the public.

Health experts across the world fear an outbreak of a new and severe strain of influenza that can spread easily from person to person.

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Re: VT: Hospitals to participate in Health Dept. exercise Wednesday

Source: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pb...21/1002/NEWS01
Flu drill slated at Vermont hospitals

June 10, 2008

By Dawson Raspuzzi Herald Staff

Hospitals around Vermont on Wednesday will be testing their planned response in the event an influenza pandemic should spread throughout the state.

In coordination with the Vermont Department of Health and Vermont Emergency Management, more than 100 hospitals, public health officials and state government officials will take part in the simulated emergency that will run in 11 Vermont hospitals, including Rutland Regional Medical Center.

To test their preparedness, participating hospitals will see an influx of patients about 30 percent higher than the average daily census.

In Rutland, Larry Jensen, the hospital spokesman, said the number of acute patients on average is somewhere between 95 and 100. The drill would bring in about 130 patients with a "case" of the flu.

The experts will also be tested on disease surveillance, investigation and control measures, rapid exchange of information among health professionals and the simulated delivery of timely, accurate and useful information to health care providers and the public.

"It's important because we can practice all of our responses and particularly the communication methodologies between the various institutions involved," Jensen said.

Jensen said the hospital participates in a couple of disaster drills a year for many different scenarios to test and improve the response times in the event of the real thing.

Pandemic influenza is a worldwide outbreak of a new and severe strain of influenza that can spread easily from person to person.

"Throughout the day, hospitals and the state government will test incident command systems and multiple pandemic response plans as we work to respond quickly and effectively to control the spread of illness," said Health Commissioner Sharon Moffatt, RN, MSN, in a statement to the media.

"Pandemic influenza will require a rapid and well-coordinated response, and we expect to make a lot of improvements as a result of what we learn from this exercise," Moffatt said.

The last time there were statewide tests similar to this was in July 2006, when a two-week exercise called "Operation Pandemic Flu" involved hundreds of responders, according to the Health Department.

Full details of the exercise scenario are known only to a few state employees and hospital personnel to keep the drill as realistic as possible.

"We don't necessarily know all the circumstances there are going to be ? that's sort of one of the keys to practice your response," Jensen said.

The exercise is funded by the Vermont Department of Health, through federal grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Hospital Preparedness Program and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program, and Homeland Security.

The Vermont National Guard, the Department of Public Safety and the Agency of Transportation are also participating in the exercise.

More information on pandemic flu is available at the Health Department's Web site at www.healthvermont.gov or the national Web site at www.pandemicflu.gov.

Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com.

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Re: VT: Hospitals to participate in Health Dept. exercise Wednesday

Source: http://www.benningtonbanner.com/headlines/ci_9572659

Pandemic flu drill tests preparedness
MIKE GLEASON, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 06/13/2008 03:02:20 AM EDT

Friday, June 13
BENNINGTON ? The Southwestern Vermont Medical Center participated in a statewide drill Wednesday designed to gauge preparedness for a pandemic flu outbreak.

StateHealth Commissioner SharonMoffatt said the drill, in which 11 hospitals statewide participated,was designed to test the state's response to numerous problems.

"This particular drill focused on both the ability of hospitals to handle additional patients and our ability to move resources throughout the state," Moffatt said. "It's all critically important."

Moffatt said drills can be very helpful in maintaining readiness for emergency situations. She pointed to the example of hospitals that reacted quickly to the Sept. 11 attacks, saying the administrators of those hospitals credited their response to constant drilling.

Christopher Phelps, the emergency preparedness coordinator at SVMC,was involved in the exercise.

"The exercise was meant to determine if we could handle a 30 percent surge of patients while, at the same time, dealing with the reduction in our workforce that a pandemic would cause," Phelps said. "The purpose was to identify how the hospitals respond, both individually and collectively."

Phelps said surges can sometimes prove problematic for hospitals. "Disasters can quickly overwhelm hospitals," Phelps said. "That's why we have drills like today's, so we can be better prepared."

Moffatt said the state's part in the drill was geared toward managing resources. "We had to determine such things as if we had enough ambulances or enough ambulance drivers," Moffatt said. "If we need to move people to a different hospital, do we have enough staff to get them there?"

Phelps said the process was monitored throughout. "Each entity that participated had independent evaluators to assess how they did," Phelps said. "A formal after-action report will probably not be available for several weeks."

Phelps said that the hospital examined itself internally as well, and is currently processing its own data. "It's a continual process, and it's an area where you're never fully satisfied," Phelps said. "It's an area where you can never be fully ready."

Though the statewide results are still pending, Moffatt said she saw some encouraging signs.

"One of the things we were extremely pleased with was the communication between Vermont Emergency Management, the Health Center and the hospitals," Moffatt said. "The flow of information was exceptional. The ability to keep Vermonters informed in the event of a crisis is critical."

Phelps said this particular exercise was intended to address the possibility of a flu pandemic, an issue that has drawn considerable attention recently.

"This has been in the planning stages for about 14 months," Phelps said. "What the state did was create a scripted scenario and, throughout the drill, sent out issues that would come up at the hospitals."

The problems that a pandemic flu poses are different from other disasters, Phelps said.

"A pandemic event is more challenging than a typical mass casualty case," Phelps said. "You may get a surge of patients with accidents, but you know that, in a few hours, it will be resolved. Pandemics are different."

Moffatt agreed that the challenges posed by pandemics are unique. "In a case like this, it's very likely that not just one hospital will get it ? it's not like a situation where a train goes off the tracks," Moffatt said. "It's also unique in that Vermont itself would have to handle it, because it's likely other states would be dealing with the same thing."

Phelps said the challenge with pandemics is to recognize and ramp up efforts to combat the outbreak quickly. According to Phelps, several processes had been put into place to monitor these potential problems as they come up.

"One program is called syndromic surveillance," Phelps said. "We collect and share information about the types of injuries and illness we face, and that's monitored by the state Department of Health epidemiology unit. Every day, they send a report back to hospitals about what to look out for."

Phelps said that, several years ago, the program was used to identify and track an outbreak of food poisoning in Burlington.