Project Homeless Connect is a one day connection to resources and services for people experiencing homelessness in Pierce County. Medical and dental care, haircuts and flu shots, access to benefits through the Veterans Administration, the Department of Social and Health Services, replacement of identification and new glasses – all available under one roof.
This is the third annual event, each year reaching more and more individuals in need. This year's event will be October 14 from 9am to 5pm at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Center. Please join the event organizers in spreading the word to those in our most vulnerable population. For more information: www.pchomelessconnect.org
Monday, August 31, 2009
H1N1 Workshop for Community Based Organizations
Mercer Island (WA) Community Center
September 24th, 2009
9:30-12:00
Get answers to the following questions:
· How can I protect my vulnerable clients and staff?
· How should I prepare my organization?
· How should I clean and disinfect my facility?
Get updates on current situation and Public Health’s preparedness and response planning:
· Vaccine distribution
· Public education and communications
Location:
Mercer Island Community Center
8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, WA 98040
(206) 275-7609
To RSVP (appreciated but not required):
Robin Pfohman, Public Health Seattle & King County
Robin.pfohman@kingcounty.gov
206.263.8759
Vulnerable Populations Action Team (VPAT)
September 24th, 2009
9:30-12:00
Get answers to the following questions:
· How can I protect my vulnerable clients and staff?
· How should I prepare my organization?
· How should I clean and disinfect my facility?
Get updates on current situation and Public Health’s preparedness and response planning:
· Vaccine distribution
· Public education and communications
Location:
Mercer Island Community Center
8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, WA 98040
(206) 275-7609
To RSVP (appreciated but not required):
Robin Pfohman, Public Health Seattle & King County
Robin.pfohman@kingcounty.gov
206.263.8759
Vulnerable Populations Action Team (VPAT)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula High Risk Population Summit Invitation
Register today for the Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula (WA) High Risk Population Summit on Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 8 to 12 noon.
See attached for agenda.
It will be held at St. Anthony's Hospital in the Milgard Pavilion, 11567 Canterwood Blvd NW in Gig Harbor.
Please RSVP to Jonathan White, Peninsula Light 253-857-1514 and Lisa Marshall, Merrill Gardens, 253-858-5300.
Sponsored by: Peninsula Multi Agency Coordinating Council (MACC)
See attached for agenda.
It will be held at St. Anthony's Hospital in the Milgard Pavilion, 11567 Canterwood Blvd NW in Gig Harbor.
Please RSVP to Jonathan White, Peninsula Light 253-857-1514 and Lisa Marshall, Merrill Gardens, 253-858-5300.
Sponsored by: Peninsula Multi Agency Coordinating Council (MACC)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparation (course)
The CEPIN (Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network) course, Emergency Responders and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community: Taking the First Steps to Disaster Preparedness is being presented on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 8:00am-5:00pm at the Pierce County Emergency Operations Center, 2501 South 35th St, Suite D, Tacoma, WA 98409.
Hosted by Hearing Speech and Deafness Center – South Sound in cooperation with the Pierce County High Risk Populations Planning Committee this course requires a balance of participants between emergency responder and planning personnel and members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities, both professional and community members. Attached is a registration from in PDF that can be completed and saved and emailed to LeeAnna Paynter, Program Assistant, HSDC-South Sound, lpaynter@hsdc.org . Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. Registration deadline is September 23, 2009.
Delivered by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI)
This course will provide participants with an understanding of the tools and knowledge needed to prepare a community response, as well as respond to and recover from emergencies ranging from weather-related emergencies to a terrorist attack, for deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and deaf-blind individuals.
COURSE DETAILS
This is an 8-hour course, beginning at 8:00 am and ending at 5:00 pm. The maximum number of students is 40. All registrants must be a U.S. Citizen. Photo identification is required upon registration. There is no registration fee for this class.
Audience: This course is designed to provide deaf and hard of hearing (including deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, late-deafened and other individuals with hearing loss) and emergency responders with the basic skills they need to communicate with each other in the event of emergencies such as terrorist attacks and natural and biological disasters. The course will also instruct participants how to respond to a variety of emergency situations.
All key members of emergency response agencies involved in the planning of and response to a disaster would benefit from this course including: law enforcement, fire, EMS, public health, community advocates, special needs populations representatives, elected officials, homeland security officials and others who may be indirectly or directly affected.
Scope: At the conclusion of this course, participants will gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to an emergency situation involving individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or late-deafened. The course materials will train participants to identify and recruit those in their neighborhood whose daily activities place them in a unique position to identify potential barriers to effective communication as well as proven solutions to work around such obstacles
Hosted by Hearing Speech and Deafness Center – South Sound in cooperation with the Pierce County High Risk Populations Planning Committee this course requires a balance of participants between emergency responder and planning personnel and members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Communities, both professional and community members. Attached is a registration from in PDF that can be completed and saved and emailed to LeeAnna Paynter, Program Assistant, HSDC-South Sound, lpaynter@hsdc.org . Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. Registration deadline is September 23, 2009.
Delivered by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI)
This course will provide participants with an understanding of the tools and knowledge needed to prepare a community response, as well as respond to and recover from emergencies ranging from weather-related emergencies to a terrorist attack, for deaf, hard of hearing, late-deafened, and deaf-blind individuals.
COURSE DETAILS
This is an 8-hour course, beginning at 8:00 am and ending at 5:00 pm. The maximum number of students is 40. All registrants must be a U.S. Citizen. Photo identification is required upon registration. There is no registration fee for this class.
Audience: This course is designed to provide deaf and hard of hearing (including deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, late-deafened and other individuals with hearing loss) and emergency responders with the basic skills they need to communicate with each other in the event of emergencies such as terrorist attacks and natural and biological disasters. The course will also instruct participants how to respond to a variety of emergency situations.
All key members of emergency response agencies involved in the planning of and response to a disaster would benefit from this course including: law enforcement, fire, EMS, public health, community advocates, special needs populations representatives, elected officials, homeland security officials and others who may be indirectly or directly affected.
Scope: At the conclusion of this course, participants will gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to an emergency situation involving individuals who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing or late-deafened. The course materials will train participants to identify and recruit those in their neighborhood whose daily activities place them in a unique position to identify potential barriers to effective communication as well as proven solutions to work around such obstacles
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Applications being accepted for Fall Emergency Planning Institute
The Emergency Planning Institute is a 12-hour class sponsored by the Pierce County (WA) Department of Emergency Management which is targeted toward social service agencies, long term care facilities and anyone else who is interested in putting together or improving their organization's emergency plan.
The next class schedule is:
- Thurs, Sept 24 from 8 am to 12 p.m.at TACID (Tacoma Area Coaltion for Individuals with Disabilities) in Tacoma
Session 1: Incident Command/Introduction to Disasters - Overview
- Thursday, October 8 from 8 am to 12 p.m.at TACID (Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities) in Tacoma
Session 2: Plans and Procedures
- Thursday, October 29 from 8 am to 12 pm at Pierce County Emergency Operations Center in Tacoma
Session 3: How to…Update, Train and Exercise
We ask that participants commit to all three classes. Click here for the registration form. Classes are limited in size to 20 people. The application deadline is September 11.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
National Council on Disability Recommends Sweeping Emergency Management Changes for People with Disabilities
The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released its report
Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities, calling on federal, state, and local authorities to make sweeping changes in emergency management practices for people with disabilities.
According to NCD Chairperson John R. Vaughn, “NCD’s first evaluation of government work in this area was published in a 2005 report Saving Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning. That report laid out a scenario of a major hurricane striking the Gulf Coast and outlined steps that the federal government should take to include people with disabilities in emergency preparedness, disaster relief, and homeland security. Hurricane Katrina struck four months later.”
As a result of NCD’s work, the 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bill’s Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (H.R. 5441) required Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to employ a National Disability Coordinator and to interact, consult, and coordinate with NCD on a list of eight other activities.
According to NCD Vice Chairperson Pat Pound, “NCD identified a major gap in the government’s homeland security knowledge base, which involves the availability and use of effective practices for community preparedness and response to the needs of people with disabilities in all types of disasters. In 2008, NCD began reviewing the spectrum of available studies and defined a set of best/promising practices for emergency management across the life cycle of disasters and geographic areas. With this new knowledge, it is time to act. The lives of people with disabilities hang in the balance.”
Scientists report a worldwide increase in the number of natural disasters over the past 25 years. In 1980, only about 100 such disasters were reported per year, but that number has risen to more than 300 a year since 2000. The increase is expected to continue, and storm-related disasters are predicted to increase in intensity.
According to NCD Vice Chairperson Chad Colley, “NCD’s report offers information and advice to assist all levels of government in their work to establish evidence-based policies, programs, and practices across the life cycle of disasters.”
Some of the recommendations and interventions include:
Federal Recommendations
● Continue strengthening efforts to enforce compliance with Federal Communications Commission policies regarding emergency broadcasting to reach people with disabilities.
● Complete the FEMA Comprehensive Planning Guide (CPG) series—including 301 Special Needs and 302, which includes service animals—in sync with other CPG series guides.
● Hire disability coordinators at the FEMA regional offices.
State-Level Interventions
● Task a state official with disability and disaster issues.
● Involve disability community organizations and state offices or agencies in all state efforts regarding natural hazards, terrorism, technological or hazardous materials concerns, and pandemic planning.
Local-Level Interventions
● Local jurisdictions should create working groups to review and revise emergency operations plans, mitigation plans, and recovery plans to address the issues of people with disabilities.
● Cross-training on disability and disaster issues should be conducted among emergency managers, first responders, voluntary agencies, and disability agencies.
Individual-Level Interventions
● Accept personal responsibility for preparedness in a disaster context; where that is challenging, involve caregivers in such efforts.
● Create contingency plans for evacuation and other protective action, shelter life, medical care, and service animals.
For more information or to receive a copy of the report, please contact NCD’s Mark S. Quigley, at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2008.
Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities, calling on federal, state, and local authorities to make sweeping changes in emergency management practices for people with disabilities.
According to NCD Chairperson John R. Vaughn, “NCD’s first evaluation of government work in this area was published in a 2005 report Saving Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning. That report laid out a scenario of a major hurricane striking the Gulf Coast and outlined steps that the federal government should take to include people with disabilities in emergency preparedness, disaster relief, and homeland security. Hurricane Katrina struck four months later.”
As a result of NCD’s work, the 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bill’s Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (H.R. 5441) required Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to employ a National Disability Coordinator and to interact, consult, and coordinate with NCD on a list of eight other activities.
According to NCD Vice Chairperson Pat Pound, “NCD identified a major gap in the government’s homeland security knowledge base, which involves the availability and use of effective practices for community preparedness and response to the needs of people with disabilities in all types of disasters. In 2008, NCD began reviewing the spectrum of available studies and defined a set of best/promising practices for emergency management across the life cycle of disasters and geographic areas. With this new knowledge, it is time to act. The lives of people with disabilities hang in the balance.”
Scientists report a worldwide increase in the number of natural disasters over the past 25 years. In 1980, only about 100 such disasters were reported per year, but that number has risen to more than 300 a year since 2000. The increase is expected to continue, and storm-related disasters are predicted to increase in intensity.
According to NCD Vice Chairperson Chad Colley, “NCD’s report offers information and advice to assist all levels of government in their work to establish evidence-based policies, programs, and practices across the life cycle of disasters.”
Some of the recommendations and interventions include:
Federal Recommendations
● Continue strengthening efforts to enforce compliance with Federal Communications Commission policies regarding emergency broadcasting to reach people with disabilities.
● Complete the FEMA Comprehensive Planning Guide (CPG) series—including 301 Special Needs and 302, which includes service animals—in sync with other CPG series guides.
● Hire disability coordinators at the FEMA regional offices.
State-Level Interventions
● Task a state official with disability and disaster issues.
● Involve disability community organizations and state offices or agencies in all state efforts regarding natural hazards, terrorism, technological or hazardous materials concerns, and pandemic planning.
Local-Level Interventions
● Local jurisdictions should create working groups to review and revise emergency operations plans, mitigation plans, and recovery plans to address the issues of people with disabilities.
● Cross-training on disability and disaster issues should be conducted among emergency managers, first responders, voluntary agencies, and disability agencies.
Individual-Level Interventions
● Accept personal responsibility for preparedness in a disaster context; where that is challenging, involve caregivers in such efforts.
● Create contingency plans for evacuation and other protective action, shelter life, medical care, and service animals.
For more information or to receive a copy of the report, please contact NCD’s Mark S. Quigley, at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2008.
Monday, August 10, 2009
FEMA Announces Creation Of Children's Working Group
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While testifying before the Senate Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery today, the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate announced the creation of a "Children's Working Group."
The working group will allow FEMA and its partners to explore and implement planning and response strategies specific to children throughout the agency and ensure that during a disaster the unique needs of children are not only considered, but fully integrated into how FEMA administers this support to states and the public.
"It is time for special needs populations, whether children or any other segment of our communities who have traditionally been underserved, to be more fully and consistently integrated into preparedness and planning efforts at every level of government," Administer Fugate said. "Children are a part of every community. We must understand and address their needs from the outset, recognizing that they are not simply small adults. That means not putting the considerations specific to children in a separate box, but incorporating them into our planning on the front end."
The Children's Working Group will be composed of FEMA employees across multiple directorates and offices to ensure coordination and action, and will report directly to the Office of the Administrator. The working group will be chaired by Tracy Wareing, counselor to Secretary Napolitano for FEMA.
The working group will allow FEMA and its partners to explore and implement planning and response strategies specific to children throughout the agency and ensure that during a disaster the unique needs of children are not only considered, but fully integrated into how FEMA administers this support to states and the public.
"It is time for special needs populations, whether children or any other segment of our communities who have traditionally been underserved, to be more fully and consistently integrated into preparedness and planning efforts at every level of government," Administer Fugate said. "Children are a part of every community. We must understand and address their needs from the outset, recognizing that they are not simply small adults. That means not putting the considerations specific to children in a separate box, but incorporating them into our planning on the front end."
The Children's Working Group will be composed of FEMA employees across multiple directorates and offices to ensure coordination and action, and will report directly to the Office of the Administrator. The working group will be chaired by Tracy Wareing, counselor to Secretary Napolitano for FEMA.
Areas of focus of the Children's Working Group will include:
- Child-specific guidance as to evacuation, sheltering, and relocation;
- Tracking and reunification of families;
- Coordinated case management supports;
- Enhanced preparedness for child care centers and schools as well as for children in child welfare and juvenile justice systems;
- Enhanced national planning, including incorporation of children into national planning scenarios and exercises;
- Incorporation of children's needs into grant guidance;
- Improved recovery coordination across the federal family and with state and local partners in support of children's education, health and housing;
- Consideration as to how the federal family can help ensure child care centers are able rebuild and restore services more quickly following a disaster, and;
- Increased public awareness efforts to educate families and protect children during disasters.
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
