NE Health Multiagency Coordination MAC group

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NE Health Multi-agency Coordination (MAC) group

• Cheryl Stephens, MBA, MT(ASCP)
• NE MN Healthcare Preparedness Group
• Ready to Respond
• Collaborations in Health Preparedness Conference
• May 2008

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We Are Here
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NE MNOur Situation

• Our Region
• 18,000 square miles
• True Wilderness to Metropolitan
• 400 mile border with Canada
• 4,000 lakes
• Duluth port is 6th busiest in America (exports)
• 3 Sovereign Nations (Bois Forte, Fond du Lac,
  Grand Portage)

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NE MNOur Situation

• Our Population
• 305,000 in 135,000 households
• Tourists summer population triples, Fall
  Winter population doubles
• Mostly English speaking
• Jurisdiction populations range from 500 to
  210,000
• Region contains 1/6 of MNs population.

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NE MNOur Situation

• Challenges
• Roads several communities with only one road,
  and some with none!
• Communications difficulties no cell phone
  towers in wilderness granite interference
• Wilderness vs rural vs city
• Weather Snowfall averages 6 to 10 feet
• Borders WI, Canada, Lake Superior

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NE MNOur Situation

• History of Cooperation
• The Blowdown (1999)
• Meningitis Response (1999)
• Border Port Issues
• Tribal Relationships
• Ham Lake Fire (2007)

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NE MN Hospital Preparedness Group

• Members
• 16 Hospitals
• Regional EMS Assn
• Regional Homeland Security/Emergency Management
• Regional EMS Regulatory Board
• Local Public Health
• Local Red Cross Chapter

• Regional MN Department of Health
• County Emergency Management
• Clinics
• Behavioral Health
• Laboratory
• Long Term Care/Home Care
• Academic Institutions

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Cooperative Planning
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Examples of Cooperative Planning

• Leveraged funding
• purchased amateur radio base stations and
  generators for hospitals, clinics, local public
  health and tribal health
• Joint training
• NIMS/HICS, Psychological First Aid, risk
  communication and mass dispensing
• Workforce sharing
• regional coordinators for Education and
  Volunteers, HICS/NIMS and Behavioral Health

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MAC background

• To provide support and coordination for
  multi-jurisdictional or multi-agency response.
• Leverages our partnerships

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Calling Tree Activation

• Activation can be initiated by any MAC member.
• Contact the first person in the Calling Chain. If
  not available, leave message and call the next
  person in the Chain.
• Continue in this manner until you actually talk
  to a real person.
• The calling responsibility then falls to this
  person. They then contact the next person on the
  list and talk to him/her or leave a message. 
• When you have passed on the calling
  responsibility, you can go about your MAC duties
  see job action sheets.

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Lessons Learned Utilize the MAC sooner Clarify
volunteer roles
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Sustaining Collaborative Relationships

• Train together
• look for ways to work together, its easier
  that way
• Plan together
• sharing ideas and funding makes all the funding
  equitable and adequate
• Exercise together
• turfing does not accomplish what you hope it
  will
• Respond together
• ...always leave your egos at the door

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• Contact information
• Cheryl Stephens, MBA, MT(ASCP)
• Executive Director
• Community Health Information Collaborative
• 218-625-5515
• cstephens_at_medinfosystems.org