Special Edition: Emergency Preparedness and Response

FEATURES

Emergency Preparedness and Response: How CDC DRH Addresses Needs of Women and Newborns

By Wanda D. Barfield, MD, MPH
Captain, U.S. Public Health Service Director, Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

At a Texas field medical station in the path of Hurricane Rita, effects of the disaster were already taking a toll. Young women were being treated for medical conditions such as depression and anxiety. Elderly people too sick to evacuate were being cared for by their daughters, sisters and nieces. Some pregnant women were being monitored while others were caring for their own families. [more]

Building Emergency Preparedness and Response Capacity in Reproductive Health

By Marianne E. Zotti, DrPH, MS, FAAN
Consultant, Emergency Preparedness and Response Activity, MANILA Consulting Group, Inc.

Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was a major disaster that forced the evacuation of New Orleans and affected large areas of other states, especially Mississippi, whose coastal areas received extensive damage as a result of being directly in the path of the storm and subsequent storm surge. Afterward, a small group of New Orleans women who were pregnant or postpartum at the time of the storm described their harrowing experiences when evacuating. [more]

Recovering from Disaster: Implementing the RHAD Toolkit to Improve MCH Services to Childbearing Women

By Mary Ellen Simpson, R.N., Ph.D.
Instructor of Community Health, Graham School of Nursing, Canton, Illinois

The Reproductive Health Assessment After Disasters (RHAD) toolkit was developed to assess the reproductive health needs among women aged 15-44 years who have been affected by natural and/or man-made disasters. RHAD is part of an initiative by the CDC, Division of Reproductive Health, for use by local and state health departments or other organizations that provide reproductive health services to U.S. disaster-affected women. A modified RHAD survey was implemented to assess the reproductive health risks and psychosocial effects of the Nov. 17, 2013 tornado of women residing in four central Illinois counties. [more]

Is Your State Prepared for the Unique Challenges of Protecting Pregnant and Postpartum Women During an Anthrax Incident?

By Valerie R. Johnson, MPH, CHES, and Dana Meaney-Delman, MD, MPHV
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Bacillus anthracis, the type of bacteria that causes anthrax, is one of the most likely agents to be used in a biological attack. If such an incident were to happen in the United States, state public health officials at all government levels would need to respond quickly. To help protect the health of pregnant and postpartum women, public health officials need to be aware of the unique challenges that would arise for this population during an anthrax incident... [more]

MEMBER TO MEMBER

We asked AMCHP Members: How is your Title V/MCH department incorporating reproductive emergency preparedness and response into its work?

MISSISSIPPIBy Juanita Graham, DNP, RN, FRSPH
Mississippi State Department of Health

On Aug. 29, 2015, Mississippi (MS) will recognize the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I use the term "recognize" because it will certainly be no celebration -- merely an opportunity to remember lives lost and lessons learned through the single greatest natural disaster ever experienced by our state. Damages exceeding $125 billion encompassed all 82 Mississippi counties. [more]

HAWAIIBy Emily K. Roberson, PhD, MPH
Hawaii Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Program Coordinator

Bryan Vidrine, MPH
Public Health Preparedness (PHP) Planner

Judy K. Kern
Education and Training Coordinator, Acting PHP Branch Co-chief

The Hawaii Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), housed within the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH), Family Health Services Division and funded by the CDC, is a population-based surveillance system designed to identify and monitor maternal experiences, attitudes, and behaviors from preconception, through pregnancy and into the postpartum period. [more]

PENNSYLVANIABy Jennifer Fiddner, MPH
Epidemiology Research Associate, Allegheny County Health Department

Recognizing that pregnant women, infants and children are especially vulnerable during public health emergencies, the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) Emergency Preparedness, Bureau of Assessment, Statistics and Epidemiology (BASE) and MCH program staff launched an innovative collaboration. The ACHD MCH home visiting program offers prenatal, postpartum, and pediatric visits to promote healthy pregnancies and positive birth outcomes in an at-risk populations. [more]

GET INVOLVED

National MCH Workforce Development Center Coffee Talk Series -- Check Out the Coffee Talk 2 Video!
This series will be hosted by the National MCH Workforce Development Center Change Management core on three pertinent topics benefiting the Title V workforce. The series will consist of three archived 20-minute videos for AMCHP members to access bi-monthly at their leisure. For the alternating months, AMCHP will host a Twitter chat on the content shared during the preceding month's archived video. [more]

Now Available: Application to Participate in the National MCH Workforce Development Center Training -- Cohorts 3 and 4
The National MCH Workforce Development Center offers a range of trainings, tools and resources to strengthen MCH workforce capacity to lead through health transformation. The Center offers training in four key areas: access to care, quality improvement, systems integration and change management. State/territory Title V agencies/MCH programs and their partners will have the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills and tools in the four key areas and apply them to a current health transformation project of interest. [more]

Announcing Call for Abstracts and Save-the-Date: ACEs Southeastern Summit
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Southeastern Summit 2015: Building Resilient, Interdisciplinary Workforces, Communities & Families will be held Sept. 24-26 in Asheville, North Carolina. This conference will focus on the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on early childhood development, long-term health behaviors and health outcomes in adulthood. Interactive speaking sessions will showcase how providers in the community, both locally and regionally, including health, social and human service, education, mental health and law professionals incorporate practical tools and evidence-based programs into their work to identify these experiences early in a child's life and give their families tools to prevent the intergenerational transmission of adverse experiences. [more]

Special Issue Call for Papers: Postpartum Health and Wellness
The Maternal and Child Health Journal is soliciting manuscript submissions to be considered for an upcoming issue on the theme of postpartum health and wellness. This important period in the reproductive life continuum provides a critical link between prenatal care and women's preventive health care as well as an essential opportunity to guide and support maternal role attainment, breastfeeding, mental health and healthy parenting. The Journal solicits manuscripts on any aspect of postpartum health and wellness, including policy briefs, original research, commentaries, perspectives in practice (clinical or public health), program development or implementation, program evaluation, and literature reviews. [more]

DATA AND TRENDSLearn statistic on disasters and Hurricane Katrina here.

BOARD OF DIRECTORSMeet the AMCHP Board of Directors.

AMCHP STAFFMeet the AMCHP staff.

CALENDAR
Click here to see the AMCHP MCH Events Calendar.