HomeMy WebLinkAbout20042741.tiff RESOLUTION
RE: APPROVE COMMUNICATION GUIDELINES FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND
AUTHORIZE CHAIR TO SIGN
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, Colorado, pursuant to
Colorado statute and the Weld County Home Rule Charter, is vested with the authority of
administering the affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and
WHEREAS,the Board has been presented with Communication Guidelines for Emergency
Response as part of the Bioterrorism Public Health Preparedness Program between the County of
Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld County, on
behalf of the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, and the Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment,with further terms and conditions being as stated in
said guidelines, and
WHEREAS,after review, the Board deems it advisable to approve said guidelines, a copy
of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of Weld
County, Colorado, that the Communication Guidelines for Emergency Response between the
County of Weld, State of Colorado, by and through the Board of County Commissioners of Weld
County, on behalf of the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, and the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment be, and hereby are, approved.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Board that the Chair be, and hereby is, authorized to
sign said guidelines.
The above and foregoing Resolution was, on motion duly made and seconded,adopted by
the following vote on the 15th day of September, A.D., 2004.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD COUNTY, COLORADO
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� EXCUSED
Robert D. Masden, Chair
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/ William H. e, Pro-Tem
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ty Clerk to the Board
M. J. 'e
APP D AS TO F . .
David
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Glenn Vaad
Date of signature: O0,
2004-2741
HL0031
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Memorandum
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TO: Robert D. Masden, Chairman
Board of County Commissioners
From: Mark E. Wallace, MD, MPH,
Director, Department of Public Health &
COLORADO Environment
DATE: September 10, 2004
SUBJECT: Communication Guidelines for Emergency
Response
Enclosed for Board review and approval are the Communication Guidelines for
Emergency Response for the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment requires that each county
develop and approve emergency communication guidelines as part of the Bioterrorism
Public Health Preparedness grant.
These guidelines provide a framework for internal communication and release of public
information in response to a public health emergency. They were developed in cooperation
with the Weld County Office of Emergency Management and will be included in the Weld
County Emergency Operations Plan, Health Annex. The guidelines will be reviewed and
updated annually or as needed.
I recommend approval of the Communication Guidelines for Emergency Response.
2004-2741
(it6 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT
1555 N. 17th Avenue
Greeley, CO 80631
WEBSITE: www.co.weld.co.us
' ADMINISTRATION: (970) 304-6410
FAX: (970) 304-6412
PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION & NURSING: (970) 304-6420
O FAX: (970) 304-641&
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: (970) 304-6415
COLORADO FAX: (970) 304-6411
Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment
Communication Guidelines for Emergency Response
The goal of the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment is to effectively
inform and educate the public in the event of a public health emergency and instill and maintain
their confidence in the department's ability to respond to the situation.
To accomplish this goal, the health department will provide rapid, accurate, and consistent
communication to the health department staff, local officials, the media and the community by
utilizing every available channel of communication and coordinating efforts with local, state and
regional partners. _
Purpose
The purpose of this plan is to provide guidelines for internal and external communication during
a public health emergency. The plan describes the communication system that will be activated
prior to, during and after an emergency situation.
WCDPHE Spokesperson
The Executive Director of the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment
(WCDPHE) will activate the WCDPHE Emergency Response Team and emergency
communication plan. The WCDPHE Executive Director serves as the spokesperson for the
WCDPHE or designates a member of the management team, or the county PIO, to serve in this
capacity. As the incident commander, the Executive Director will work in cooperation with the
Weld County Office of Emergency Management (OEM), state and county officials and the
WCDPHE communication team to inform the citizens of Weld County about the public health
emergency, what actions are being taken to address the situation and how citizens can protect
themselves and their families.
Health Alert Network
The national Health Alert Network (HAN) is an integrated information and communication
system which serves as a platform for distribution of health alerts, dissemination of prevention
guidelines, distance learning, and national disease surveillance and electronic reporting. The
HAN links local health departments to one another and to other organizations critical for
preparedness and response such as local first responders, hospitals, private laboratories, state
health departments and federal agencies. As a responsibility of the HAN system, the Emergency
Response Team is required to maintain an up-to-date fax list that includes:
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• Weld County officials
• Municipal officials
• Weld County Dispatch
• Media—radio, TV, newspaper
• Community Health Centers, Sunrise, Salud (2)
• North Colorado Medical Center, urgent care, and all medical clinics
• North Range Behavioral Health
• NCMC Psychcare
• Home health care agencies and residential care facilities
• Physicians
• Pharmacies
• Senior Centers
• State Health Alert Network Coordinator
• Veterinarians
• Weld County schools, including UNC and AIMS
The HAN coordinator and Emergency Response Team will conduct a test o£the broadcast
capabilities at least four times each year to maintain a current state of readiness and reliability.
WCDPHE Emergency Response Team
The Emergency Response Team (ERT) consists of the WCDPHE management team, including
the Executive Director, the Directors of Environmental Health, Public Health Education and
Nursing, and Administration, and division supervisors. The health department staff is assigned to
one of 5 teams that report to the ERT management team. The Education/Public Information
Team (EPIT) is the team responsible for internal and external communication for the health
department during a public health emergency.
The WCDPHE Public Information Officer(Health Promotion Supervisor) has over all
responsibility for coordination of communication under the direction of the Executive Director
and Emergency Response Team. The Education and Public Information Team consists of the
Health Promotion health educators and office technicians, a nurse, environmental health
educator, and administrative staff.
The responsibilities of the Education and Public Information team are to:
1. Coordinate with the WCDPHE emergency response team leaders to determine the scope of
information to be released to the staff and the public regarding the emergency.
2. Coordinate with the Weld County PIO to disseminate the information externally through the
OEM.
3. Determine a media"flow sheet" for points of contact and flow of information internally and
externally.
4. Develop and disseminate information and fact sheets on the disaster/emergency and specific
communicable disease.
5. Maintain a complete state and local media contact list.
6. Coordinate the WCDPHE emergency information disseminated through the Weld County
web site, hot lines, and broadcast faxes (with the HAN coordinator).
7. Designate at least two people to serve as spokes persons to provide public information on a
regular basis during the emergency.
Material Development
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Media messages (fact sheets, question and answers, news releases) relating to the general
infectious disease, prevention and specific critical agents have been prepared and are available
for distribution to media outlets and community groups. This information will be maintained and
updated by WCDPHE Education and Information Team. This information is available in hard
copy with the ERT "go kit" in the Health Promotion Office, the WCDPHE shared computer
information files, and on the Weld County intranet.
Internal Communications Guidelines during a public health emergency
1. The Executive Director will activate the ERT using the emergency call-down procedure. The
PIO and other ERT management staff, as identified by the Executive Director, will report to the
WCDPHE, the Weld County Training Center, or a designated alternative location. All other staff
will report to the WCDPHE or designated location soon as possible.
2. The Emergency Operations Command Center at 1102 H Street will be opened and activated, if
it is available, by the Executive Director and the County Emergency Operations Manager
(EOM). If the site is not, the designated alternative site will be opened. The center is fully
equipped with phones, computers, and radios.
3. WCDPHE ERT will issue written directives and send via email and hard.copy to all staff as
quickly as possible. The ERT will meet twice daily for communication briefings to update the
situation and conference calls will be held with key staff frequently during the day. Official
communication will be logged by date, time and number in the incident communication Iog by a
member of the EPIT.
4. Cell phones will be utilized if power is unavailable by the WCDPHE designated staff. Cell
numbers are included in the emergency call down list (updated by the HAN coordinator). At
least four laptop computers are available to the assigned staff for"real time" communication
with the WCDPHE operations center.
5. Six 800 Megahertz radios and 8 handheld radios are available at the WCDPHE. One radio is
available for the vehicle assigned to the environmental on-call staff for emergency
communication in the field with the EOC.
6. If all communication channels are impeded, the Weld County EOM may enlist the assistance
of the local chapter of the ARES.
Public Information Dissemination
A WCDPHE ERT manager and the WCDPHE PIO will determine the need for risk
communication regarding the emergency situation in consultation with Weld County OEM PIO,
the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and other regional health officials,
as needed.
Based on the perceived severity of the threat and the level of local independent media activity,
the WCDPHE ERT manager and the WCDPHE PIO will determine the scope of public
communication. This communication will be regular and on going through out the emergency
response.
Communication activities may include any or all of the following:
• The WCDPHE PIO and Education and Public Information Team will write news
releases and statements based on the templates developed and/or the Colorado
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Department of Public Health & Environment materials to be released to the local
news media as part of news alerts, news releases and news conferences and
interviews.
• Bi-lingual Spanish speaking WCDPHE staff will be available to edit all news
releases. The Weld County OEM maintains agreements with the University of
Northern Colorado, AIMS Community College, School District Six and North
Colorado Medical Center to provide other language translation as determined
necessary.
• The WCDPHE PIO will coordinate calls from the news media and assign a team
member to obtain information required to respond to those inquiries and as well as
telephone or print interviews.
• The WCDPHE PIO will coordinate/arrange for television interviews and organize
news conferences with WCDPHE officials, including those taking place at the
remote sites with the assigned spokesperson. Appropriate subject-matter experts will
be identified by the WCDPHE ERT to serve as spokespersons as needed.
• The WCDPHE HAN coordinator is responsible for distributing HAN information or
directly communicating with medical providers in our county and/or neighboring
counties with ongoing communication with the ERT.
• The WCDPHE, in coordination with the Weld County EOM, will establish a media
information hotline phone bank at the Weld County Training Center, and provide
news releases, Q &A, fact sheets, and local response information as needed, using
the CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response materials.
• The EPIT team will be responsible for preparing and/or editing information for the
Weld County Internet site.
• The WCDPHE PIO will assign a member of the EPIT to monitor television, radio
and newspaper coverage of the emergency.
• WCDPHE ERT will continually evaluate the scope of the public health emergency
situation and progress of response and communicate all relevant information to the
local response network, local and state health departments, and the public.
Local Communication and Response Networks
1. Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment has established communication
lists for contact during a public health emergency. These are in addition to the HAN contact list
maintained by the WCDPHE HAN coordinator. These lists are revised four times each year by
the Health Promotion staff and include:
• local and regional media, including radio, TV, newspaper, website
• local county commissioners and municipal leaders
• local hospital PIO, Infection Control Coordinator and Chaplain
• major Weld County businesses
• local mental health center
• schools and university PIO
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• regional and state health department PIO
• Multicultural outreach contacts, including Spanish American, African American, and
Native American contacts.
Communication channels to be considered during a public health emergency include:
• Emergency Alert System with TV, radio, intemet, email, fax, reverse 911, 40 line phone
bank, dispatch center
• Radio (English and Spanish)
• Television(English and Spanish)
• Telephones hotlines (English and Spanish)
• Web sites (Weld County, CDPHE)
• Personal distribution
• Emails and List serves for businesses, agencies, municipalities, schools
Distribution points for print information in Weld County include:
Businesses, churches, community and senior centers, courts, homeless shelters, housing
complexes and large apartment facilities, lodging facilities including hotels and motels,
libraries, mental health centers, schools and universities, restaurants, social services and other
governmental agencies, migrant housing facilities.
North Colorado Medical Center Office of Community Affairs maintains a staff designated to
respond to emergency situations. The NCMC Chaplin maintains a phone tree with local
churches. In addition, a guest relations staff that includes bilingual/bicultural Spanish, Asian
and Eastern Indian UNC students is available for interpretation. NCMC maintain a multi
cultural contact list for Weld County that includes Hispanic, African American churches and
Native American spiritual leaders. NCMC provides another link with home health care
agencies, nursing homes, and United Way agencies through their social service care
coordinators.
Considerations for Special Populations
All special populations within Weld County will be contacted using the methods described
above. In addition, the at risk population will be contacted in the event of an emergency through
these channels:
• Blind and developmentally disabled: use of sirens, radio, and emergency and law
enforcement personnel, Weld County Dispatch Center with reverse 911, home health care
agencies, Area Agency on Aging,mobile health van.
• Deaf: Use of TV messages with corresponding American Sign Language translation and
Weld County Dispatch Center TTY lines with reverse 911, mobile health van.
• Elderly/homebound/disabled: Notification by home health care personnel, Area Agency
on Aging, senior centers, the mobile health van, and reverse 911 systems.
• Homeless: Catholic Charities, Guadalupe Center, Salvation Army, Red Cross and motel
management, liquor stores, and bus station, and emergency and law enforcement
personnel.
• Migrant farm and construction workers: Sunrise/Salud clinics, mobile outreach vans,
construction firms, farm corporate offices, migrant housing, Catholic Charities, Head
Start, Social Services, and Spanish radio stations in Weld County
• North Colorado Medical Center Multicultural Outreach contacts list for Hispanic,African
American, and Native Americans living in northern Colorado.
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Joint Information Center (JIC)
A JIC maybe set up at any point after the initiating event, once it becomes apparent that multiple
agencies may be involved in response activities and ongoing public communication will be
necessary. The JIC may be established by WCDPHE or another participating agency. Once a JIC
is established, WCDPHE will:
• Identify a lead public health spokesperson to participate in the JIC and to serve as a
liaison with local public health. (Executive Director or a ERT manager appointed by the
Executive Director)
• Assure that the JIC is staffed during all operational hours (possibly 24 hours per day
during the emergency period)
After Action and Conclusion:
1. When the emergency situation has been resolved and the Executive Director, ERT in
cooperation with the Emergency Operations Manager determines that a crisis communications
center is no longer required, the crisis communication operation will be shut down after final
news releases have been issued.
2. The ERT, EOM, and public information officers from WCDPHE and Weld County and all
other agencies involved will debrief about the handling of the emergency and on portions of the
work that were handled well and those that could have been handled better.
3. Comments on how the public information aspects of the emergency were handled and how it
could have been improved also will be sought from local participants.
4. A written summary of the comments will be prepared and placed in a separate notebook along
with news releases and other written material distributed during the emergency situation. News
clippings relating to the emergency situation also will be placed in the notebook.
5. The EOM, Executive Director for WCDPHE, the PIO for Weld County and WCDPHE ERT
will discuss suggestions about additional information, including telephone numbers and fact
sheets that was needed and was not in the informational notebooks. Arrangements will be made
to have that information placed in the notebooks.
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Q„ OF PUBLIC HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT
1,/..4 ' PI7HJ\rPEPARTMENT
1555 N. 17th 1
.., o. 5? Greeley, CO 80631
WEBSITE: www.co.weld.co.us
ADMINISTRATION: (970) 304-6410
1! --,- , _
I R :LH , JD FAX: (970) 304-6412
PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION & NURSING: (970) 304-6420
O FAX: (970) 304-6416
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVIC S: (970) 304-6415
COLORADO FAX: (970) 304-6411
Granting Agency: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Applicant's Name: Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment
Applicant's Address: 1555 N. 17th Avenue
Greeley, CO 80631
Applicant's Phone: (970) 304-6420, ext. 2380
Applicant's Fax: (970) 304-6416
Project Title: Communication Guidelines for Emergency Response
Weld County Emergency Plan, Health Annex
Contact Person: Gaye Morrison, Public Information Officer
Date: September 15, 2004
Weld County Department of Public Weld County Board of Commissioners
Health)and�E�jnvi nment az
l/ �'��9A `f E La /T+l 09/15/2004
Mark E. Wallace, MD, MPH, Dir or pp Liam H. Jerke, Pro—Tem
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4 eld County Clerk to the Bo d
BY:
D Y LE K Td T BOARD
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