Memorandum
Date: February 11, 2020
To: The Honorable Moke Simon, Chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Denise Pomeroy, Health Services Director
Subject: Approve Long Distance Travel for Dr. Gary Pace, Iyesha Miller, Dean Eichelmann, Christine Hannigan, Jasjit Kang, and Craig Wetherbee to Anniston Alabama March 21st 2020 through March 28th 2020 to attend the Disaster Related Exposure Assessment and Monitoring (DREAM) training.
Executive Summary:
Dr. Gary Pace, Health Officer, Iyesha Miller, Health Programs Manager, Dean Eichelmann, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Christine Hannigan, Health Programs Support Specialist II, Jasjit Kang, Environmental Health Director, and Craig Wetherbee, Hazardous Materials specialist III, have been invited to attend the 2020 Disaster Related Exposure Assessment and Monitoring (DREAM) training by FEMA.
The DREAM training is a four-day course designed to provide knowledge and experience in assessing, monitoring, and tracking health effects to emergency responders and community members before, during and after, an emergency or disaster. This includes exposures to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives, and other hazards.
The course provides training experience on disaster epidemiologic tools that combines Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS), Assessment of Chemical Exposure (ACE), and Epi CASE (Case Assessment Symptom and Exposure) tools developed by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) with additional training on disaster response and a capstone exercise.
This type of team based emergency response training or the opportunity to train together with other emergency response teams is not available to us locally.
Below are some, but not all, of the critical skill sets learned during this training program:
• Identify disaster epidemiologic tools that collect and analyze information on health effects.
• Explain the important benefits of rostering during and after an incident using the Epi CASE toolkit, and other disaster Epi tools.
• Develop proficiency in gathering information from citizens and responders using the Epi CASE form.
• Practicing proper interview techniques and obtaining informed consent form.
• On Site Responder In-processing; Health Monitoring and Surveillance; Integrating Exposure Assessment; Activities Documentation and Controls.
• Describe the important factors that support the development of a registry and use of the Decision Support Tool (DST).
• Demonstrate the use of the Epi Info database and its functions.
• Apply the ERHMS, Epi CASE, and ACE toolkit materials in response to an incident with potential exposure to the community and responders.
• Monitoring responder and community health before, during, and after an emergency or disaster.
Travel and all associated costs, including airfare, meals, airline baggage fees, ground transportation, hotel and airport parking are fully funded through FEMA.
During this training March 21st through March 28th all exempts staff attending this training will be available remotely. In addition, five Directors and Managers will be onsite for leadership coverage of the Health Department; including the Health Services Director.
As the Health Services Director with a new team, that has less than two years’ experience in planning and responding to emergencies, I fully support this training opportunity hosted and paid for by FEMA.
If not budgeted, fill in the blanks below only:
Estimated Cost: ________ Amount Budgeted: ________ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
Consistency with Vision 2028 and/or Fiscal Crisis Management Plan (check all that apply): ☐ Not applicable
☒ Well-being of Residents ☒ Public Safety ☐ Infrastructure ☐ Technology Upgrades
☐ Economic Development ☒ Disaster Recovery ☐ County Workforce ☐ Revenue Generation
☒ Community Collaboration ☐ Business Process Efficiency ☐ Clear Lake ☐ Cost Savings
If request for exemption from competitive bid in accordance with County Code Chapter 2 Sec. 2-38, fill in blanks below:
Which exemption is being requested?
How long has Agreement been in place?
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Reason for request to waive bid?
Recommended Action: Approve Long Distance Travel for Dr. Gary Pace, Iyesha Miller, Dean Eichelmann, Christine Hannigan, Jasjit Kang, and Craig Wetherbee to Anniston Alabama March 21st 2020 through March 28th 2020 to attend the Disaster Related Exposure Assessment and Monitoring (DREAM) training.