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April 20, 2023

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.

Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) visit to access behavioral health services.

SAMHSA: Preventing Suicide

Visit the suicide prevention resource page.

Georgia Project Firstline

Have you heard of the Marburg virus outbreaks in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea? Is this special pathogen on your infection prevention risk assessment? How can you obtain information about outbreaks from different countries? Georgia Project Firstline is providing infection prevention education to the region’s health care partners. Please engage with your region’s Infection Prevention Education Expert (IPCEE) to learn about best practices in infection prevention.

Andy Smith Named Georgia EMS Director of the Year

Andy Smith, EMS Director at Coffee Regional Medical Center, is the Georgia Emergency Medical Services Association (GEMSA) EMS Director of the Year. GEMSA presents the award to a current Georgia EMS director who has contributed significantly to EMS at the community, regional, and/or state level.

Marburg Virus Disease Outbreaks in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to inform clinicians and public health departments in the United States about two confirmed outbreaks of Marburg virus disease (MVD)—one in Equatorial Guinea and one in Tanzania. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that these two outbreaks are related; most experts agree that these represent two independent animal-to-human spillover events. To date, no confirmed cases of MVD related to these outbreaks have been reported in the United States or other countries outside Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania.

HHS to Extend Certain PREP Act Liability Protections Beyond COVID-19 Public Health Emergency

The Department of Health and Human Services plans to amend its Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act declaration for COVID-19 to extend liability protections for certain COVID-19 countermeasure activities beyond the May 11 end of the public health emergency.

Emerging Health Threat Comes in the Form of a Fungus and Can Possibly Cause Life-threatening Illness

Candida auris is making headlines – but for all the wrong reasons. The fungus can lead to severe infections causing long-term health issues and even death. Jose Vazquez, MD, division chief of infectious diseases at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, said there’s good reason for concern. “The biggest fear is that this is multi-drug resistant, so it is resistant to many different drugs,” said Vazquez. He went on to add that C. auris is also hard to detect and specialized lab equipment is needed. Once the fungus gets into a hospital setting, such as an ICU, it’s hard to stop.

EMP's, What They are, and How They can Threaten Our Very Existence 

Even though many of us are unaware of it, recent governmental investigations have concluded that EMP weapons pose a threat to our own life. In fact, the enemies of the United States could use EMP weapons that could destroy all of the nation's infrastructure. To put it simply, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons produce energy bursts that destroy electronics, wiring, communications, and the power system. Congress has been researching the threat posed by EMP weapons since the 2000's.  Think about it. ANYTHING electronic. That's most everything in our lives now.

NEWSLETTERS

ASPR TRACIE The Express - March 2023

CISA Community Bulletin - April 2023

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

Preparedness Brief Digest - March 2023

Georgia Weekly Influenza Report - Week 14

HHS Office of IEA COVID-19 Update - April 20

HPH Sector Preparedness, Response, and COVID-19 Update - April 13

Keystone Health Preparedness Digest - April 18

MESH Weekly Situational Awareness Brief - April 7

MESH Weekly Situational Awareness Brief -  April 14

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - April 14

News & Notes - April 6

News & Notes - April 14

EDUCATION

Emergency Preparedness Systems Training:

Everbridge Training

April

2023 Preparedness Summit

April 24-27

June

2023 Georgia School Safety and Homeland Security Conference

June 19-21

Joint Commission Emergency Management Conference

June 20-22

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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