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  • Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

    Hat tip Carol@SC

    Bethel drill will test area emergency flu response


    <!--subtitle--><!--byline-->By Robert Miller Staff Writer
    <!--date-->Article Last Updated: 04/04/2008 06:11:49 AM EDT

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    BETHEL -- Sooner or later a virus spreading quickly around the world will make millions of people very sick in a short period of time.
    It might be the bird flu percolating in Asia right now. It might be something unknown.

    But given the adaptability of flu bugs, and the ease of world travel, something will catch fire.

    "We're not talking about what if," said Norma Gyle, of New Fairfield, the state's deputy commissioner of public health. "We're talking about when."

    When it happens, every hospital, every pharmacy, every pool of doctors and nurses will suddenly find there is not enough of anything to go around -- not enough beds, not enough drugs, not enough bandages and not enough people.

    "I say it's the three S's," said Dr. Gregory Dworkin, chief of pediatric pulmonology at Danbury Hospital. "Staff, space and stuff."

    On Saturday, the region will have a chance to see how it responds to a pandemic flu in real time, with a mock flu pandemic drill at Bethel Health Care Center. It may be the first community-wide drill held in the United States to deal with pandemic flu, Dworkin said.

    "I can go to Washington, D.C., (and discuss) this, but unless you bring it home, it doesn't do any good," Dworkin said.

    The state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security has given the region a mobile field hospital, which will get its first use during the drill. When it's not standing, the tent-like hospital -- named after 94-year-old Ottile Lundgren, of Oxford,

    who died of anthrax poisoning in 2001 -- will be under the care of the city of Danbury. When needed, it will serve a 43-town region covering most of western Connecticut.There will also be staff -- doctors, nurses, physicians' assistants, public health officials, and student nurses from Western Connecticut State University.

    "You can build a field shelter," said Dr. Catherine Rice, associate professor of nursing at WestConn. "but who will be in the hospital, delivering care? It will be nurses."

    During Saturday morning's drill, people will start showing up at the field hospital complaining of flu-like symptoms. Some will be mildly ill. Some will be near death.

    The staff at the field hospital will perform triage, or sort out the cases. The sickest will be taken to one section of the hospital, the least ill to another. Workers will have to coordinate care in the hospital and with emergency and public health staff outside.

    "Emergencies always come down to the local level," said James Thomas, state commissioner of emergency management and homeland security. "But we know we have to come together to work on community efforts."

    Learning the strengths and weaknesses of a region is invaluable, Thomas said, because when a pandemic hits, all resources -- local, state and federal -- will quickly be stretched to the limit.

    "You know that it will be three or four days before we get help," Thomas said.

    Diane Judson, director of nursing at Bethel Health Care Center and a leader of the Managed Emergency Mass Allocation Consortium -- the 30 towns and organizations that will take part in the drill -- said the events of Sept. 11 showed people weren't ready to deal with a mass medical emergency.

    "I had a call the morning of 9/11 asking about bed availability," she said.

    With her staff worried about friends and relatives in New York City that morning, she said, it was hard for anyone to focus on what might be needed.
    "I began learning how woefully unprepared we were," she said.

    Dworkin said Saturday's drill will show how area towns have begun to address those problems.

    "Are we ready? No. We are not ready," he said. "But we're going to be able to learn how to make it better. This is a big step forward."

    Contact Robert Miller
    at bmiller@newstimes.com
    or at (203) 731-3345.
    FLU VICTIMS NEEDED To help with the pandemic flu drill at Bethel Health Care on Saturday morning, the consortium running the drill needs volunteers to act like stricken patients.
    Volunteers should arrive at Bethel Health Care, 13 Park Lawn Drive, Saturday about 9:30 a.m. They will be given a scenario to play -- sometimes exhibiting mild symptoms, sometimes near death.
    Volunteers must be at least 16 years old. Those younger than 16 must have a parent or guardian on site at all times.
    The drill will end promptly at noon. High school students can use the volunteer time to help fulfill community service requirements.
    For information, call the Bethel Health Department at (203) 794-8539 or e-mail the department at kelleyn@betheltownhall.org.



  • #2
    Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

    Source: http://www.newstimes.com/ci_8830059?source=most_emailed

    Preparing for the worst
    'Controlled chaos' drill measures response to pandemic flu
    By Eugene Driscoll Staff Writer
    Article Last Updated: 04/06/2008 04:56:14 AM EDT

    BETHEL *-- Hundreds of volunteers, along with emergency and health personnel from 42 towns and cities, took part in a massive drill Saturday meant to measure response to a pandemic flu outbreak.

    Potentially "ill" people (volunteers from an array of agencies, including the Boy Scouts) came to Bethel Health Care Center, which acted as a giant triage center, complete with a $8.6 million mobile field hospital from the state department of health that could hold up to 100 beds.

    "Patients," whether by bus, car or on foot, were herded into a parking garage, where they were met by people such as Jennifer Mitchell, an EMT student at Danbury Hospital, and Andrea Uruina, a first-year nursing student at Western Connecticut State University.

    "This is real world experience," said Uruina, who estimated she had seen more than 100 patients less than 60 minutes after the 9:30 a.m. exercise began.

    Patients were evaluated in the garage, then sent to either the field hospital for treatment, or, if acute care was needed, transported to an area hospital.

    Other patients who did not exhibit symptoms were taken to a support tent where they learned about the flu -- how to avoid it specifically. That tent was also a place where relatives of the sick could receive support from clergy and counselors.

    The mobile field hospital itself was an exercise in "controlled chaos," according to Catherine Rice, an associate professor of nursing at WestConn who brought along some 40 nurses from the college.

    Patients would have received intravenous fluids, medication and other medical services inside the mobile hospital.

    The place was packed by 10:15 a.m., with nurses buzzing around, patients coming in and doctors assisting the "ill."

    "For the public to look at this, it may look overwhelming," Rice said. "However, it is what we call a controlled chaos. Clients are coming in and moving through the process," she said.

    The goal Saturday was to practice for the worst.

    The flu scenario called for 50 suspected cases and 50 confirmed cases with a 7 percent fatality rate. The state had then requested that the pandemic flu triage center be set up for the region to assist the massive influx of patients hitting local hospitals.

    Patrick Killeen, a physician's assistant from Danbury Hospital, said the drill provided practice working at an incredibly fast pace.

    "What's interesting is the rate and speed at which people are coming in," he said. "In the emergency room, they would come in at a much slower rate."

    Contact Eugene Driscoll

    at edriscoll@newstimes.com

    or at (203) 731-3332

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

      Hat Tip DemfromCt -

      You Tube Videos of Event:



      Last edited by sharon sanders; April 7, 2008, 09:59 AM. Reason: added new youtube of event

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

        Hi, folks.

        Our drill went pretty well, and I'll be posting on it more. But I would bring to your attention these two threads at FW:

        The Pandemic Flu Drive-By Clinic Exercise


        and

        Pandemic Flu Exercise part II


        which has two video links.

        <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/srX3vyC2-Sc&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/srX3vyC2-Sc&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

        <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AjJ8kN18WYE&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AjJ8kN18WYE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

        The drill wasn't meant to be the answer to everything; we have a lot more to do. But I think it was a great step forward.

        I was medical consultant on the planning team and helped kick-start it with a series of talks to the community going back to last September (I'm Dr. D on one of the videos), but what you are seeing here is everyone else's work (and by that I mean the 40 organizations from the local hospital to the local PH people to the red cross to the nursing school and EMT students, and the more than 200 volunteers we got on drill day).

        This is a regional approach, and one that is sorely needed. Now we have to run the numbers and see what good it would do.

        Cheers!

        DemFromCT

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

          I think any practice is good. Good for everyone. It "tweaks" the brain to think about new situations.

          While no simulated exercise can possibly replicate a real life scenario, it gets the participants aware of some of the potential issues.

          I applaud everyone's efforts.


          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

            Apr 12, 2008
            Redding
            Pandemic Flu: Volunteers practice for a real emergency

            <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var strvalue = ""; if(strvalue=="") { document.write('') } else { document.write('By '); document.write('

            '); } // --> </script> by Julie Weisberg
            <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="450"> <tbody><tr><td></td></tr> <tr><td> <script type="text/javascript"> document.write(unescape("Redding resident Judy Malin, left, and PFC. Audrey Greenwald of Newtown, a member of the Second Company Governor%u2019s Horse Guard, exchange information during last Saturday%u2019s pandemic flu exercise in Bethel. %u2014Julie Weisberg photo")); </script>Redding resident Judy Malin, left, and PFC. Audrey Greenwald of Newtown, a member of the Second Company Governor?s Horse Guard, exchange information during last Saturday?s pandemic flu exercise in Bethel. ?Julie Weisberg photo </td></tr> </tbody></table>
            When Judy Malin found out the health care company she works for would be participating in an upcoming regional pandemic flu exercise, she knew she had to be involved.

            And so the Deer Spring Road resident signed on to be a volunteer, spending several hours training and then serving as a public information officer during the drill, which took place at Bethel Health Care on Parklawn Drive in Bethel on Saturday.

            ?It sounded very, very interesting,? Ms. Malin said, walking the grounds as one of several public information officers who worked with and guided the media during Saturday?s drill. ?We hope we never see something like this, but with the ease that people travel these days, it could actually happen.?

            And she is not alone in her concern. Ms. Malin was among hundreds of volunteers, first responders, health care and emergency management professionals from more than 40 Connecticut municipalities ? including Redding and other surrounding towns ? that came together to organize, plan and carryout last week?s exercise.

            The idea for holding a large-scale pan flu drill in the area was conceived by the Managed Emergency Mass Allocation Consortium (MEMA). The group is a regional grassroots organization made up of some 30 partners including several health care companies, hospitals, Western Connecticut State University, West Point Military Academy, American Red Cross, as well the Redding Health District and Visiting Nurse Association.

            Redding resident Dr. Harvey Kramer, cardiologist, was one of several medical observers to take part in the drill. The cooperation among all parties involved in the drill was ?extraordinary,? he said.

            ?Things have gone very well,? Dr. Kramer said Saturday morning, as he stood and kept a close eye on the mock activities in a triage tent.

            Saturday?s exercise featured several tents strategically set up across the grounds of the Bethel Health Care facility, with dozens of volunteers posing as flu victims who were then evaluated and ?treated? by first responders, doctors, nurses and others who also took part in the mock pandemic flu outbreak.

            And anyone going in and out of the triage tents and walking the grounds, including members of the media covering the drill, were required to wear surgical masks, gowns and gloves ? just as if it were a real emergency.

            Most of the tents were set aside as triage and medical care units. One of the tents, however, also served as a central location where victims could go to get information about the emergency, as well as to find out how to care for themselves and their loved ones who were ill at home.

            Representatives from the state Department of Emergency Management and the federal Department of Homeland Security were also involved in the event?s planning and on hand Saturday. And the state Department of Public Health?s Ottilie Lundgren Memorial Mobile Field Hospital was also used as part of the exercise.

            ?And they approached this not as if it is just a drill, but as though it was a real and true situation,? Ms. Malin said, adding that she was especially surprised to see several children taking part.

            ?I think that that is good,? she said of the younger volunteers who posed as pandemic flu victims. ?It helps make them more aware of what to do in an emergency... and what to do if they get separated from their parents.?
            <table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="250"> <tbody><tr><td></td></tr> <tr><td> <script type="text/javascript"> document.write(unescape("Helen Parks McGuire of New Milford holds her dog %u201CMaggie%u201D while nursing students ask the volunteer %u201Cpatient%u201D a series of questions. %u2014Julie Weisberg photo")); </script>Helen Parks McGuire of New Milford holds her dog ?Maggie? while nursing students ask the volunteer ?patient? a series of questions. ?Julie Weisberg photo </td></tr> </tbody></table>
            According to Laura Vasile, the town of Bethel?s health director and the drill?s lead public information officer, last week?s Regional Pandemic Flu Triage Center Exercise was the first time the concept of ?medical surge capacity? has actually been tested here in the United States.

            Medical surge capacity is the ability of first responders to provide triage (the process of determining victims? medical priority) and then immediate medical care during a large-scale public health and/or medical emergency, such as a pandemic flu outbreak.

            ?I really thought that everything I trained for happened right in front of me,? Ms. Vasile said of the drill.

            The goal of the exercise, she said, was to ?test? the region?s ability to properly provide medical treatment and support to people with pandemic flu who require medical care. The success of the surge is dependent upon the ability of community members and resident volunteers to plan and work together.

            ?This exercise was to do as good of a job as we could, knowing there would be problems and flaws,? Dr. Kramer said. ?It gives us an opportunity to learn.?
            Ms. Vasile said organizers learned several important points through holding the drill. And while there are processes and issues that do need to be more more efficient and improved, the basic groundwork needed to successfully respond to this type of emergency in the future has now been laid.

            ?It?s just a benefit for our region to know that that is now in place,? she said.
            Because of last week?s large-scale exercise, Dr. Kramer said, the region will be better prepared to protect local residents during any possible future large-scale emergency.
            ?I can assure you, when the flu comes to town, we will be affected just like anyone else,? he said of Redding. ?No community is immune.?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

              This reminds me in NZ using CBAC Community Based Assessment Centres (pronounced c-back) where the plan is to keep flu patients separate from regular patients using levels:

              Levels:
              -self triage (at home)
              -phone triage
              -CBAC triage and treatment (in car park if possible or at door). People will be given their tamiflu and sent home.
              -CBAC assessment. Doctor will only see those with complications e.g. viral pneumonia.






              A trial on town sized community based assessment centre was run. It would be interesting to compare notes. http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32088


              Exercise Cruickshank tested the setting up of CBAC ...more info and report here http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17132




              These are some of my observations of the Bethel exercise:


              1) Great to see the 'worried well' accounted for. They can easily overwhelm current capacity.

              With her staff worried about friends and relatives in New York City that morning, she said, it was hard for anyone to focus on what might be needed
              2) Drill helps people go though the motions 'on the day'


              I was given a yellow wrist tag saying "Level 2" and told to follow the instructions of the traffic coordinators
              3) This would be a good time to be issued a mask

              I had a fever of 102 and had been vomiting for four days
              4) Criteria for getting Tamiflu is within 48 hours of symptoms. Patient requested Tamiflu.....how are you going to keep it down?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                Thanks!

                Here's some more local reaction:
                http://tinyurl.com/5ey2se

                Preparing For A Pandemic?
                Health Providers Train For A Medical Nightmare

                Billed as a "pandemic flu surge capacity triage center exercise" the four-day program culminated in a drill on Saturday, April 5, in which 134 volunteers posing as flu patients were checked to determine the severity of their "symptoms."

                Of that number, 27 people were referred for basic medical care to a field hospital set up next to Bethel Health Care Center at Berkshire Corporate Park, 10 people were provided with medical information about influenza, and the remaining 97 people were told to "recuperate" at home, according to Laura Vasile, Bethel's public health director.

                The Bethel Health Department was among the many organizations in western Connecticut that participated in the first such large-scale flu pandemic training exercise in the state.

                The Managed Emergency Mass Allocation Consortium (MEMA) sponsored the event, which involved area health and human service providers, health departments, police and fire personnel, and medical, nonmedical, and community volunteers.

                The project's goal was to test the region's ability to provide proper medical treatment and support to people with pandemic flu who require medical care. The tent-style field hospital simulated a treatment location that would be operating at a time when hospitals would be filled with flu patients.

                At the drill, volunteers posed as flu victims whose medical conditions were rapidly diagnosed at a triage center, after which they were referred to appropriate care, possibly including being seen by medical staffers at the field hospital.

                Collaboration and adequate preparation are required to handle such medical emergencies, said James Thomas, the state commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. A pandemic amounts to a "natural disaster," he said. A pandemic is an epidemic spread over a wide area.

                Mr Thomas said it is good that such training exercises are now occurring on the local level.

                and




                'First in the nation'

                Bethel hosted a major pandemic flu triage exercise last weekend that is considered "the first" in several respects," in terms of its approach and scope, according to local and state public health directors.


                "Nothing like this has been done before," state Public Health Director Leonard Guercia Jr., who was on hand for the exercise, said Tuesday. "It was an excellent exercise-the first of its kind in the state," he said of the regional effort, in which many agencies and the general public participated.
                "This was the first time that the concept of medical surge capacity was actually tested," said Laura Vasile, the town's health director, Tuesday. She noted that the crucial word was "surge," which means that the volume of emergency care was the driving issue of the exercise.
                "It was the first test in our nation of a very serious flu outbreak situation," she said. "It was an opportunity to evaluate the kind of medical and nonmedical support that would be needed to aid a very large volume of people."

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                  Hi, Sally
                  3) This would be a good time to be issued a mask

                  yes.. all the volunteer patients were given masks and teaching material, including advice to stock up now. And the drill hopefully showed others wearing those masks.
                  Quote:
                  I had a fever of 102 and had been vomiting for four days
                  4) Criteria for getting Tamiflu is within 48 hours of symptoms. Patient requested Tamiflu.....how are you going to keep it down?

                  For the drill, it was easy.. we assumed we didn't have any. But antiemetics like zofran could be given.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                    The Tamiflu part is very realistic.

                    The quantity of Tamiflu is either restricted or the virus resistant.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                      Since NZ has done such an excellent job, we will keep in touch through channels with those involved in the exercises there.

                      many of us here are jostling to see who might go and inspect that lovely country in person.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                        Originally posted by DemFromCT View Post
                        Since NZ has done such an excellent job, we will keep in touch through channels with those involved in the exercises there.

                        many of us here are jostling to see who might go and inspect that lovely country in person.
                        Dem - How about we get a group rate?

                        My turn to buy lunch.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                          Great! See you all. I'll buy lunch.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Connecticut - Bethel Drill Will Test Area Emergency Flu Reponse

                            new write-ups, including mine:
                            http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/20...069/672/494601

                            Hospital Surge, Exercises and Pandemics





                            Pandemic Flu: Volunteers practice for a real emergency

                            Comment

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