Bill Flynn's blog

The Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disabilities Services, in conjunction with Temple University CPREP and the University of Pennsylvania hosted a mental health response exercise on January 8, 2013. Sarah Powell (Temple CPREP), Patty Stewart-Taylor (DBHIDS Acute Services), and Phil DeMara (DBHIDS Emergency Preparedness) were the lead organizers and controllers for this event. This exercise, the third designed and coordinated by DBHIDS and Temple CPREP, simulated a reception center for families, staff, and students that might be opened in the wake of this type of incident. Response Teams were given the opportunity to practice Psychological First Aid skills and to work within the Incident Command System.

Several organizations participated in the exercise, including but not limited to: provider agencies, regional county partners, school districts, Philadelphia Police and Police chaplains, victim/witness programs, county crisis response, and CISM teams. There were over 100 attendees, including evaluators, observers, and exercise controllers. Steve Crimando, a national and international trainer and speaker commented that “Philadelphia has one of the best teams (in mental health response) in the country, and is ahead of the curve in its preparation for active shooter and similar events.”

An after action report summarizing the exercise, feedback from participants and observers is being developed and will be completed soon. Upcoming Local and Regional Trainings Mental Health Response Teams work in a Family DBHIDS Emergency Preparedness Program Active Shooter Mental Health Response Functional Exercise.

Mar 13-14, 2013. Emotional and Spiritual Care in Disasters. ICISF. Montgomery County Fire Academy. 2 Days, 9-4pm. 48 seats.

April 9, 2013. Psychological First Aid. Steve Crimando. Temple University Center City. 9am-4pm. 35 seats.

For information related to these trainings, please contact:

Phillip DeMara, MSEd.

Director of Emergency Preparedness

City of Philadelphia

Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilities Services

philip.demara@phila.gov.

Updated November 6th

Preparedness

NYTimes science section has an article on weather person and blogger Bryan Norcross who discusses NOAA’s guidelines, warnings and  Mayor Bloomberg's press conferences.

AWARE, a blog about best practices for emergency alerts and warnings, looked at the role of IPAWS / CMAS and social media before and during the Hurricane.

Impact

HHS's Public Health Emergency (PHE.gov) has an updated-daily situation overview of the federal government's public health response.

ReliefWeb.int is a great resource that aggregates data / news from organizations on the ground during international emergencies. Their overview of Hurricane Sandy includes information about the impact of the storm in the Caribbean.

Resilience and Recovery

NPR Science Friday interviewed Randy Horton of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Andrew C. Revkin, who writes the Dot Earth blog at NYTimes, about recovery efforts, climate change, and some thoughts on how rebuild.

Early next week, Hurricane Sandy is expected to arrive in Pennsylvania with heavy rain and strong winds. Below are some resources to help you prepare and stay informed.

Be prepared:

Ready PA - Make an emergency plan - or review your current plan.

Ready PA - Get an emergency kit

Red Cross Hurricane Preparedness

Stay informed:

ReadyNotifyPA - A service of the Southeastern PA Regional Task Force

Temple University - Students and Employees - Register for TUAlerts

Twitter accounts for local updates - (Thanks to the Southeastern PA Regional Task Force)

Bucks County
@BucksCountyGovt

Chester County Department of Emergency Services
@CCDES

Delco Emergency Services
@Delcodes

Montgomery County Department of Public Safety
@MCpublicsafety

Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management
@PhilaOEM

Disaster Relief/Weather
American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter
@RedCrossPhilly

The Salvation Army Philadelphia
@SalArmyPhilly

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency
@FEMA

US National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly
@usNWSgov

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
@CDCEmergency

A short time after Hurricane Isaac began dumping more than a foot of rain in the southern states, CNN published a list of recommendations for preparing for hurricanes. The first item on this list:

"Download an application to your smartphone that can notify people where you are, and if you need help or are safe."

Downloading an app sounds like a reasonable step for smartphone owners. As recently as 2007 this item wouldn't have been part of an emergency preparations list, but by now it’s not really much of a story that one of the best ways to keep informed and connected during a crisis is to have a well-equipped smart phone. The CNN recommended smartphone app is Hurricane from the American Red Cross (available for iOS and Android) which includes - among many useful things – the ability to review hurricane information of the last 161 years. 

A map of all the hurricanes since 1851 created by John Nelson using publicly available NOAA data. To orient yourself -that is Antarctica at the center.

Further down CNN’s list we find this item:

“Continue listening to a NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) or the local news for the latest updates.”

To listen to these recurring broadcasts requires a special, weather radio (a battery or self powered model is highly recommended). NWR broadcasts cover approximately 95% of the US population however by the NOAA’s own estimation only 5 -10% of people own a weather radio. By comparison a Pew Research Center study from earlier this year reports that 46% of American adults own smartphones and it is widely acknowledged that cell phone ownership around the world is the growing norm.

The National Weather Service is well aware of the reach of cell phone networks of course. This past Monday morning around four o’clock I woke up to an unexpected, unset alarm. I found that my phone was showing a red "warning" triangle and a message from “NWS” about a flash flood watch in my area. This wasn’t the first time I'd received a message like this. The message from the National Weather Service was delivered using the infrastructure of commercial mobile carriers according to the requirements of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). The messages operate slightly differently than standard text messages (SMS or MMS) so you can't respond to them with a gracious “thx!!! ;)”. Most phones purchased after 2010 have the ability to receive these messages regardless of their operating system. Consumers are able opt out of these alerts (EXCEPT for Presidential messages), but opting out is not recommended since these messages are known to save lives.