Science Fair Project

1

Public Information Call Center Answering the
call in an emergency
2
What well cover

• Public Health responsibilities in a disaster
• Public messaging and information
• Purpose of a PICC
• PICC system and operations
• Activation scenario
• Your questions

3
Public Healths mission

• Achieve and sustain healthy people and healthy
  communities throughout King County by providing
  public health services which promote health and
  prevent disease.

4

• Seattle King County
• 1.8 million population
• 400,000 commuters daily
• Many without health care provider/insurance
• Vulnerable populations 70 spoken languages, 10
  requiring translation in our clinics
• 15 of King County , ages 21 64, have a
  disability
• 19 hospitals, 7000 medical professionals and 27
  community health centers
• 34 fire departments, 9 HAZMAT teams, 29 local
  law enforcement agencies
• SeaTac Airport - 30 million passengers annually,
  more than 1.1 million from international flights
  170 cruise ships with 700,000 disembarked in 2005

5
Public Healths evolvingrole in preparedness

• Nearly all emergencies and disasters have public
  health consequences
• 9/11, the 2001 anthrax attacks, SARS, and Katrina
  brought new focus to public health and health
  care delivery system infrastructure, response
  capacity, and need for rapid communication of
  accurate information
• Significant vulnerabilities were revealed
  nationwide

6
Broad spectrum of activities

• Disease and environmental surveillance
• Environmental health response
• Disease outbreak and response including mass
  prophylaxis and treatment
• Isolation and quarantine
• Coordination of health systems resources and
  response
• Mass fatality response
• Health messaging and communications
• Laboratory services

7
Real World Tests

• Smallpox vaccination response
• Suspicious powder incidents
• SARS
• Pertussis and tuberculosis outbreaks
• Flu vaccine shortage
• Oil spills
• Hurricane Katrina response
• Threats of West Nile virus, pandemic influenza,
  terrorism (Madrid and London bombings)

8
Partners in preparedness

• Partnerships are the cornerstone of Public Health
  preparedness
• Crisis Clinic is part of a long list
• Hospitals and health care providers
• EMS, fire, law enforcement, Emergency Management
• Elected officials
• Human services, schools, community based
  organizations
• Port of Seattle, CDC Quarantine Station
• Courts, agricultural agencies, and businesses.

9
Public messaging and information

• Residents will be dependent on health authorities
  for reliable information
• Information needs to be provided rapidly and be
  accessible to everyone
• PICC will provide a feedback loop

10
The mission of risk communications

• Limit injury, suffering, and death
• Defend civil liberties
• Preserve economic stability
• Discourage stigmatization of specific people or
  places as contaminated or unhealthy
• Bolster individuals and communities to rebound
  from unpredictable and traumatic events

11
The publics emergency communication goals

• Make decisions about their well-being
• Protect themselves and their loved ones
• Recover or preserve well-being and normalcy
• Be involved in emergency response (for some
  people)

12
How will the public receive information

• Broadcast media -- TV, radio
• Internet
• Print media
• Phone hotlines
• Literature
• Trusted community sources
• Friends and neighbors

13
Example SARS in Toronto

• 2132 potential cases
• 23,103 requiring quarantine
• 225 met case definition
• 44 deaths
• 316,615 calls to public health hotline
• over 45,000 calls on a peak day

14
What is the PICC?

• Resource for the public to receive information in
  a public health emergency
• Live operators and recorded information
• Flexible model to accommodate demand

15
Activating the PICC system

• Demand or anticipated need for public information
  
• Event could be local, state or national
• Communications office charged with mobilizing
  operations
• Coordinated with other department emergency
  response efforts

16
Key elements of a PICC

• Facilities
• Staffing
• Messaging
• Telecommunications support
• Coordination with partners

17
Partners in call capacity

• Crisis Clinic
• Washington State Poison Control
• State Department of Health
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

18
Crisis Clinics role

• Provide surge capacity for Public Health call
  center
• Support the public with general, non-medical
  information in a health crisis event
• Serve as a seamless extension of Public Healths
  call center

19
Activating Crisis Clinic support

• Central points of contact
• Communicating over the life of crisis
• Early engagement, before support is needed
• Protocol for activating Crisis Clinic lines

20
Before activation

• Crisis Clinic alerted as soon as health emergency
  is declared
• Crisis Clinic confirms capacity to take surge
  calls
• All Crisis Clinic staff provided support
  materials to answer public questions
• Specific date and time set for activation

21
Once activated

• Roll-over system 6th caller in PICC queue goes
  to Crisis Clinic
• Comment sheet to record and report feedback
• Hourly communication between Crisis Clinic and
  Public Health

22
Crisis Clinic capacity

• 10 dedicated operators up to 25 maximum
• Peak capacity at 8 a.m 6 p.m.
• Support for up to 4 days of sustained surge
  support

23
Current PICC system capacity

• Public Health up to 3,250 calls (based on 10
  hour day)
• Crisis Clinic up to 3,250 calls
• Poison Control Center up to 1,500 calls
• State Department of Health approx. 2000 per day

24
Scenario anthrax exposure

• Coordination and activation
• Main messages and support materials for operators
  
• Monitoring system status
• Ramping down

25
Next steps with the PICC

• Expanding facility capacity within Public
  Health/King County
• Recruiting and training internal staff
• Pursuing vendor options for additional surge
  support
• Urging national CDC capacity

26
Sharing the PICC model

• Plan will be shared with other health departments
  through NACCHO (National Association of City and
  County Health Officers)
• Template for addressing similar challenges in
  other areas

27
More information on Public Health

• Over 8,000 pages of information on our public web
  site at
• http//www.metrokc.gov/health