December 2021 Newsletter
WELCOME TO THE HEALTHCARE COALITION OF MAINE NEWSLETTER
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Healthcare Coalition of Maine (HCCME) is to develop and sustain a powerful coalition of health care organizations, first responders, and other key partners united to save lives and improve health outcomes during disasters through preparedness, planning, response, and recovery efforts.
UPCOMING COALITION EVENTS
HCCME will be hosting a Joint Chapter Meeting on February 10th from 9:00-10:30AM via Zoom. This will be in place of the 3 previously scheduled chapter meetings.
Meeting to include a presentation on what a Respiratory Protection Program (RPP) is, the importance of RPPs and discuss in detail how to write a RPP that best suits your facility! Additionally, the Maine Disaster Behavioral Health Program will be providing an overview of their services and how they can assist communities in times of disaster.
Register HERE in advance!
Three POSITIONS AVAILABLE!
All Clear Emergency Management Group is searching for TWO detail oriented, highly skilled and motivated Healthcare Coalition Coordinators to join our growing team! These positions will provide coverage to the Northern and Southern Chapters by planning, implementing, and evaluating activities associated with the Coalition. Additionally, this position will recruit and maintain a diverse coalition membership with hospital, public health, emergency management, emergency medical services and other healthcare partners.
For more information, see the full job description located here. Cover letters and resumes should be submitted by email to jobs_HCCME@AllClearEMG.com.
We also continue to search for a detail oriented, highly skilled and motivated Contract Clinical Advisor to join our team! This position will serve the HCCME, by providing clinical leadership and serving as a liaison between the Coalition and medical directors/medical leadership at health care facilities, supporting entities (e.g., blood banks), and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies.
For more information, see the full job description located here. Cover letters and resumes should be submitted by email to jobs+clinical@AllClearEMG.com.
Organization Agreement Form Submittals
HCCME would like to thank the 14 organizations that have submitted their Organization Agreement Forms!
· Community Health and Counseling Services
· Danforth Habilitation Association
· Gorham House Healthcare
· HealthReach Community Health Centers
· Houlton Regional Hospital
· Islands Community Medical Services, Inc.
· Ledgewood Manor, Inc.
· Northern Maine Medical Center
· Northern New England Poison Center
· Portland Water District
· Regional Medical Center at Lubec
· Russell Park Rehab & Living Center
· Schooner Estates Senior Living Community
· The Cedars
As a reminder, all organizations involved with the coalition are encouraged to complete the new organization agreement form as any older version of a membership agreement submitted prior to November 2021 is no longer valid.
We appreciate our membership taking a few moments in their day to move your organization along to the next step in the process to becoming an “active member”.
Regional Burn Mass Casualty Incident Disaster Response Plans
Have you ever wondered if there are any regional support systems currently in place to assist your region should a burn mass casualty incident occur? Fortunately, there is! The American Burn Association (ABA) has developed and maintains plans to manage regional burn surge capabilities in the event of a mass casualty or other disaster. They also work to educate Burn Centers, hospitals, government agencies and others about these issues and what resources are available.
The ABA designated five (5) burn regions. The Northeast Region encompasses Burn Centers located along the northeast area of the United States, extending from Maine through Maryland, including the District of Columbia.
For a Burn Mass Casualty Incident (BMCI) occurring anywhere within the northeast region of the United States, the Eastern Regional Burn Disaster Consortium (ERBDC) serves as a communications and coordination center to support Burn Center(s) by conducting a burn bed census and/or assists with patient triage and transfer.
Requesting Assistance from the Eastern Regional Burn Disaster Consortium for Burn
Mass Casualty Incident Response and Coordination:
Upon request by referring Burn Centers the ERBDC:
• Conducts a bed census of northeast Burn Centers
• Supports and assists with regional efforts for patient triage and transfer
Agencies requesting assistance include:
• ERBDC Burn Centers
• Any affected ABA Burn Centers
• ABA Regional Coordinator(s)
• ABA Central Office/ President
• Department of Health & Human Services or designee
To request ERBDC assistance contact:
• Burn Medical Coordination Center at 1-866-778-3659
• The Burn Center at Saint Barnabas, NJ, directly at 1-973-322-5920
Upon notification the NJ Burn Medical Coordination Center:
• Activates the out-of-state burn disaster plan
• Conducts burn bed census of nonaffected ERBDC Burn Centers for 2H, 12H, 24H intervals, or as needed
• Coordinates patient transfer between referring and receiving Burn Centers if requested
Maine News
To address the increasing strain on hospitals and to maintain access to inpatient health care services, the Governor today signed a directive activating up to 75 additional members of the Maine National Guard who will be used in non-clinical support roles to expand capacity at health care facilities by:
Providing support to nursing facilities and swing bed units that accept patients discharged from hospitals experiencing critical care capacity challenges. Enhancing the ability of these “decompression sites” to accept more patients will allow hospitals to safely discharge more individuals, relieving a bottleneck that will then allow hospitals to provide inpatient care for more people with COVID-19 and ensure delivery of health care for other serious health problems.
Helping administer monoclonal antibodies to prevent serious illness from COVID-19 and keep Maine people out of critical care, preserving intensive care unit (ICU) capacity. Under the Governor’s directive, members of the National Guard will deploy beginning next week to locations across Maine. These locations will be determined in the coming days in collaboration with the leadership of Maine’s health care systems. It is expected that members of the Guard will be deployed in these critical support staff roles through the end of January 2022, subject to need.
Click Here to read full media brief.
Partner Resources
National Special Pathogen System of Care
In March 2020, ASPR tapped the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) to develop a strategy for a National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) System of Care to improve care for patients infected or suspected to be infected by emerging special pathogens. NETEC brought together over 70 public and private health care leaders to design this strategy for health care. This strategy builds on current investments and implements lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy is now publicly available and can be found on the NSPS System of Care website. Regular updates regarding the NSPS System of Care will be shared through this Bulletin.
Access the NSPS of Care Strategy
Health Affairs Blog Series
Are you wondering what the U.S. can do to prepare health care for the next pandemic? NETEC has recently published a fourth blog in its series with Health Affairs: "Aspirations for America’s Response to Future Outbreaks – And A Strategy To Make It Possible." The most recent blog post focuses on the strategy to prepare for future outbreaks. There will be an additional blog post coming in the next month. Most recent blog post November 19, 2021: "Aspirations For America’s Response To Future Outbreaks -- And A Strategy To Make It Possible"
ASPR TRACIE Medical Operations Coordination Cells Toolkit (Second Edition)
The flexible and modifiable guidance in the updated toolkit aims to assist regional and STLT governments with load-balancing across health care facilities and systems, so that the highest possible level of care can be provided to each patient during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pediatric resources
EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center:
2021 National EMS Education Standards released- This marks the first major revision since 2009. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s EMSC Program funded the effort through a process led by the National Association of EMS Educators.
View the new standards.
Raising the Bar for Pediatric Trauma Care-
New pediatric standards have been announced for trauma centers, including a standard based on the National Pediatric Readiness Project–a major milestone for EMSC. Read more.
partner trainings and webinars
AAP Section on Emergency Medicine Pediatric Readiness Subcommittee
All Clear Webinar Series
CONTACT US
Email your coalition coordinators at HCCME@AllClearEMG.com to assist you with any of your preparedness needs.
As a reminder, we recommend that you bookmark our website MaineHCCs.com and check in often as we are continually updating the calendar with meetings, trainings, and exercises!