Mass Notification Systems for Public Health Emergencies

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Mass Notification Systems for Public Health
Emergencies
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THE AGENCY
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The Agency

• Dr. Tina Stefanski, MD, the Administrator and
  Regional Medical Director
• Office of Public Heath for Region IV in the
  Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals

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THE PROBLEM
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The Problem for Dr. Stefanski

• The focus of my Action Learning Project was to
  help Dr. Tina Stefanski address her challenges of
  communicating information during public health
  emergencies to local physicians, clinics and
  hospitals.
• There have been several regional public health
  emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina,
  Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Gustav,
  a local train derailment, a meningitis outbreak
  at the local university and now reports of Swine
  Flu.

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Natural Disasters
Unique Infectious Diseases
Accidents Infrastructural Changes
Infectious Disease
Terrorist Attacks
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Needs Analysis
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Needs Analysis

• Currently in Dr. Stefanskis region, she
  communicates public health concerns through a
  blast fax system to local hospitals and
  clinics. She relies on local hospitals to
  disseminate the information to the physicians on
  staff. She also has contact with local medical
  societies to help disseminate crisis
  communication in times of need.

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Dr. StefanskisMission and Vision
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Dr. Stefanskis Mission

• The mission of this notification system would be
  to maintain current lines of communication from
  public health officials to regional medical
  providers for education and awareness about
  public heath concerns at an all hazards approach.

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Dr. Stefanskis Vision

• A simple and cost-effective means of mass
  communication that can easily be activated from
  anywhere, one that would notify medical
  providers, clinics, hospitals and first
  responders in the region about emergent and
  urgent public health alerts and emergencies.
• Medical providers, clinics, hospitals and first
  responders would be able to obtain alerts via
  mass communication of choice (email, text
  messaging, telephone call or fax) about all
  hazards, such as natural disasters, terrorist
  attacks, known infectious diseases, unique
  infections diseases, and infrastructure changes.
• Website and telephone lines available to notify
  public heath officials of potential hazards would
  be established and running 24 hours every day of
  the year.

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Learning Objectives
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Learning Objectives

•      Coordinate with various individuals and
  organizations IT professionals, programmers,
  data entry technicians, physicians, clinics,
  hospitals, and public health officials.
•      Assess the regions current mass
  communication capabilities, and determine the
  regions mass communication needs.
•      Review the missions, values and visions of
  the following groups regional public health
  officials, regional physicians, clinics,
  hospitals, and first responders.
•      Develop a mission, core values, and vision
  for the mass communication program based on those
  of the groups above.
•      Assess the regions current mass
  communication capabilities and budget.
•      Evaluate mass communication programs used
  by other regions and their cost.
•      Identify and compare other mass
  communication programs that could be implemented
  in this region.
•      Determine which mass communication programs
  would be most effective in this region.
•      Present findings and recommendations to
  interested parties, including the Administrative
  and Medical Director of Region IV.

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Crisis Communication Goals
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Crisis Communication Goals

• Trust
• Early Announcement
• Transparency
• Understanding the Audience
• Planning

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Mass Notification Systems
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Mass Notification Systems

• Define Target Audience
• Pre-planning
• Promotion
• Define Hazards/Emergencies
• Define Time Frame to Disseminate Message
• Build in Redundancy
• Notification Methods Push/Fetch
• Message Importance/Templates
• In-House vs Hosted
• Additional Features

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Vendors

• First Call
• Rave Wireless
• 3n
• CDW
• DCC

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First Call www.firstcall.net/main/
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DCC http//www.dccusa.com/
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3n http//www.everbridge.com/
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Results

• During this extensive review process, I was able
  to contact the Louisiana Department of Health and
  Hospitals. They were currently using the
  Dialogic Communication Corp software program
  called Communicator! NXT. This program had been
  recently updated, but had not been fully
  implemented at the state level.
• Unfortunately, the individuals responsible for
  the operation of the system were not informed of
  the power and sophistication of their new system.
  The DHH was using the system to notify its
  public health officials throughout the state with
  routine communication and mass notification
  during times of crisis. The DHH did not
  understand or have the need to utilize this
  system in any other way.
• After speaking with the vendor, it was determined
  that Dr. Stefanski could easily utilize the
  current system on a regional level, and it would
  provide her exactly what she was looking for in a
  mass notification system. With authorization
  from her superiors, she was able to easily
  integrate her current list of contacts into the
  system.

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Application of Course Work

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• I found that I used almost every aspect of my
  public health education during the Field
  Placement course and found it particularly
  helpful to review my Public Health Administration
  course. Health Care Law actually came into place
  in consideration of patients privacy and
  protection of personal information. I listened
  to numerous Clinician Outreach and Communication
  Activity (COCA) and CDC conference calls that
  focused on mass notification during crises and
  the effect of legal principles on these
  communications. The overall concepts of
  Occupational and Environmental Health were a
  common thread throughout the entire Field
  Placement.
• The most important lesson that I learned being in
  the Master of Public Health Program was the
  ability to connect with other public health
  officials throughout the United States. My
  relationships with other members of the public
  health community were the most valuable assets
  during this project. In fact, the new
  relationships that I have established with local
  state and national officials, I feel, will be a
  lifelong friendship that will benefit not only me
  but also my patients and my community. I cannot
  express with words my sincere gratitude to my
  site supervisor Dr. Tina Stefanski. She is the
  epitome of an excellent public health official.
  She is an example of what formal education should
  be in practice.