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March 30, 2023

The Georgia Hospital Net will be this Sunday, April 2. All ham operators are encouraged to participate.

Future Meetings

See all GHA meetings.

 Resources

GHA Coronavirus Information

COVID-19 information and resources.

Ebola

The Department of Public Health (DPH) offers answers to your Ebola questions.

State Epidemiologist

24-hour access to a State Epidemiologist: 1-866-PUB-HLTH.

CDC Information

Visit www.cdc.gov to stay up to date on current information.

Disaster Mental Health

The Georgia Disaster Mental Health website addresses the mental health components of disasters.

Visit the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) to

access behavioral health services.

SAMHSA: Preventing Suicide

Visit the suicide prevention resource page.

Georgia Project Firstline

Have you added Candida auris to your infection prevention risk assessment? This emerging fungus is an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat. Just last week, the CDC sent an alert about the threat of spread in health care facilities.

Gov. Kemp Declares State of Emergency Following Severe Storms

Following the severe storms and tornadoes Sunday morning, Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency executive order. The order will allow the state to bring in additional resources for recovery efforts. Additionally, the State Operations Center (SOC) is being virtually activated to Level 2 - Partial Activation, which means all emergency support functions and Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security staff should be available to respond in person to the SOC if called.

Atrium Health Navicent Operating on Backup Power Following Storm Damage

 The latest Georgia storm weather has caused damage to Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin Hospital.

In a statement, the hospital said they are operating on a backup power system following severe weather damage to its facility that occurred around 7:40 a.m. on Sunday. While the hospital did not specify the damages, they did say they are able to safely care for patients and everyone in the facility with their backup power.

Severe Weather Causes Significant Damage in West Point

West Point saw significant damage as severe weather struck Georgia Sunday morning. Troup County officials say between 80 and 100 structures were damaged, with 20 to 30 suffering “major damage” in West Point.

New Test Strips Can Detect Lethal Xylazine In Drug Supply
 

Public health workers will soon have a new tool at their disposal to thwart a spreading danger to users of illicit drugs: xylazine test strips. The new testing kits will allow health departments, grassroots harm-reduction groups, and individual drug users to test substances for the presence of xylazine, a sedative often referred to as “tranq.”

NEWSLETTERS

ASPR TRACIE The Express - March 2023

CISA Community Bulletin - March 2023

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Daily Digest Bulletin - March 2023

Georgia Weekly Influenza Report - Week 11

HHS Office of IEA COVID-19 Update - March 30

MESH Weekly Situational Awareness Brief -  March 24

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - March 24

News & Notes - March 24

EDUCATION

GHPCO In Partnership With Georgia DPH Presents: Project ECHO

Emergency Preparedness Systems Training:

Everbridge Training

April

2023 HHS Region IV SRDRS Exercise Program

April 6, 2 p.m.

Chatham County Hurricane Conference

April 11

EMAG

April 12-14

2023 Preparedness Summit

April 24-27

June

2023 Georgia School Safety and Homeland Security Conference

June 19-21

RESOURCES AND REMINDERS

FEMA Announces All COVID-19 Disaster Declaration Incident Periods Will Close May 11 

The COVID-19 disaster declarations are the longest in FEMA’s history.

FEMA will arrange programmatic briefings and share webinars as well as make experts available for all stakeholders impacted by the closure. More information will be available in the coming weeks.

Public Health Emergency to End May 11

President Biden stated that his administration will end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11. The White House said the announcement aligns with its commitment to give at least 60 days notice prior to ending the PHE, the end of which means the expiration of waivers affecting nursing homes, home and community-based services, pharmacies, and telehealth prescribers of opioid-use disorder medication, among others.

Donations to Assist Ukraine and its Refugees

The U.S. Ukraine Foundation is a 30-year-old organization that supports the people of Ukraine in their quest for freedom, democracy, a free-market economy, and human rights. The U.S. Ukraine Foundation has established a fund to provide financial support for humanitarian efforts, including covering the costs of sending medical supplies to Ukraine. The fund also supports refugees through the Kyiv Rotary Refugee Initiative.

In addition, the U.S. Ukraine Foundation is coordinating the distribution of donated medical supplies through its operation “Ukraine AirLIFT.” If you are interested in donating medical supplies, please contact the AFYA Foundation, which is partnering with the U.S. Ukraine Foundation in this effort.

For more information, please contact Nadia McConnell, president of the U.S. Ukraine Foundation, at nadia@usukraine.org or 202-468-6614.

Georgia Hurricane Response Hub

The Georgia Hurricane Response Hub has trainings and resources to help public health and health care professionals with their hurricane and disaster response duties.

Reminder: Identify, Isolate and Inform!

Identify, Isolate and Inform: It is important to continue to ask travel questions. The purpose of this notice is to remind health care providers about actions to take in Georgia when evaluating patients for possible serious communicable diseases!

Travel Clinical Assistant (TCA)

The Travel Clinical Assistant provides post-travel clinical information on travel-related diseases for 231 countries. Diseases with recent outbreaks occurring in the last two years are listed first.

ONLINE PREPAREDNESS TOOLS and

TIPS & TRICKS

GHA911

Go to the GHA911 homepage.

WebEOC

Add your facility to WebEOC.

Everbridge

Sign up for an Everbridge account

Accessing Tech Support

Mallory Garrett is GHA's Emergency Preparedness Communications Manager. Contact her at mgarrett@gha.org, 770-249-4532 (office) or 706-934-0711 (cell).

If you need to reach GHA for a Disaster/Emergency Preparedness-related issue after hours, please contact Adrianne Feinberg, 678-427-2979 or Mallory Garrett, 706-934-0711.

The Disaster Readiness Line Newsletter is circulated by Georgia's Healthcare Coalitions to our emergency preparedness partners.

Georgia Hospital Association

380 Interstate North Parkway SE

Suite 150

Atlanta, GA 30339

770-249-4500

www.gha.org

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