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Strengthening
Ohio’s Communities through
Education & Volunteerism
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Issue 9 |
February 2006 |
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In this Issue: (click an
article) | |
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New Legislation to provide Immunity Protection for Registered Ohio Citizen Corps Volunteers |
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The highlight of the legislation provides exemption from liability for "registered volunteers" in declared disasters, drills and trainings. Rules are currently being drafted to define a "registered volunteer," but it will be required that all "registered volunteers" must be signed-up on the Ohio Citizen Corps Database. This legislation signifies the importance of the database and being a registered Ohio Citizen Corps volunteer. To register on the Ohio Citizen Corps Database, click www.serveohio.org/CitizenCorps and then click on Register (New Members) (be sure to turn off pop up blockers). Also, it is extremely important that information on the database be up-to-date. If you need to update your information click www.serveohio.org/CitizenCorps and then click on the Update Your Information located at the top center of the page. Another highlight of the legislation changes the Ohio Citizen Corps Database from a public record to a security record, which is NOT subject to public disclosure. The law becomes effective in 90 days. Upon the completion of the rules, a formal release will be posted on the ServeOhio web site. Click here for additional information concerning Senate Bill Nine. |
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Update Your Information |
Have you recently moved? Changed you email or phone number? It's time to update your information on the Ohio Citizen Corps database. It is important to keep your information current to assist in an efficient, timely response in the event of a disaster.
To update your information, log onto www.serveohio.org/CitizenCorps/
then click
the Volunteer Login (Update Date Your Information) box located at the top, middle of the page.
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See Something, Say Something |
The Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Department of Homeland Security launched its new awareness campaign in January, "See Something, Say Something." This campaign aims to educate Ohioans on the possible signs of terrorism and encourages the public to report suspicious activity to law enforcement. Ohio Department of Safety Director Ken Morckel called the new campaign, "a state-wide neighborhood watch" and that the name says it all, "if you See Something, Say Something." Director Morckel said the way to stop terrorism at home is to be vigilant and urged residents to "not to wait or hold information, but to take action by notifying authorities about abnormal activity." A new toll free number has been established for residents to call: 1-877-OHS-INTEL. Residents may also call their local police or sheriff department. The campaign also focuses on citizen education. A new brochure the "Seven Signs of Terrorism" has been created. You can view and download the brochure at http://homelandsecurity.ohio.gov/PDF_files/Seven_Signs_Brochure.pdf Ohio Citizen Corps is a proud partner of the "See Something, Say Something" campaign. This would be great campaign for Ohio Citizen Corps members and councils to become involved with. If you would like magnets, posters or brochures for yourself, a group or public distribution, please contact Paul Bender at paul.bender@ocsc.state.oh.us |
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Welcome - Ohio MRC continues to Grow! |
Ohio Medical Reserve Corps is rapidly expanding. We would like to welcome our four newest units in Fulton, Jackson, Seneca and Vinton Counties. OMRC now serves 31 counties with more than 4,000 healthcare professionals. Look for even more expansion in the coming months as several counties have applied for registration.
Click Here for a Larger Map
Red=MRC Unit
Orange= MRC Regional Unit
Blue = Applied for Application
| Contacts
for New MRC Units |
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| Fulton
County MRC 606 S. Shoop Avenue Wauseon, OH 43567 Dee Jackson 419-337-0915 djackson@odh.ohio.gov |
Seneca
County MRC 71 S. Washington St Suite 1102 Tiffin, OH 44883 Skip Payne (419) 447-3691 ext. 147 spayne@odh.ohio.gov |
| Jackson
County MRC 235 Broadway Street Jackson, OH 45640 Cher Bellar 740-286-4918 cher_bellar_rsvp@yahoo.com |
Vinton
County MRC 31927 St Rt 93 McArthur, OH 45651 Curtis Phillips (740) 596-5233 cphillips@vintonohhealth.org |
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Montgomery County MRC Featured on National website |
The Montgomery County MRC unit is featured on the National Medical Reserve Corps website. To read about the exciting things happening in Montgomery County click the link below.
http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/page.cfm?pageID=1872
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Ohio Medical Reserve Corps Coordinator Speaks about Pandemic Flu
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Article published Friday, January 20, 2006, Toledo Blade When it comes to scaring people about bird flu, guys like Dr. Forrest Smith have a pretty easy job. Dr. Smith, Ohio’s top state official in charge of tracking and detecting disease outbreaks, spoke at a bird flu symposium last night at the Medical University of Ohio. And some of the statistics he gave the audience were chilling. A deadly strain of bird flu could end up killing nearly 50,000 Ohioans, he said. To give you some idea how that compares with a normal flu season, in a typical year an estimated 36,000 people die from the flu — in the entire United States. “We all know a pandemic is coming. We just don’t know when,” said Dr. Smith, state epidemiologist at the Ohio Department of Health. |
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That’s why Dr. Smith and other speakers drilled home the message that if bird flu ever hits, it’s likely that cities, counties, and states could be on their own for an extended period of time.
Linda Chiarello, an infection control consultant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that every hospital and community must develop and practice what to do in the event of a bird flu pandemic.
“The burden of planning is really at the health care facility level,” Ms. Chiarello said.
Hospital officials must begin thinking about what to do about their “surge capacity” in the event of a flu pandemic. In other words, what will community hospitals do to cope with not only a flood of flu patients but the “worried well” — those who panic at the first sniffle and assume they’ve got a flu.
What will happen if half a community hospital’s work force doesn't’t show up for work because they’re sick or too scared to report for duty?
And beyond the potential problems faced by hospitals, there are some unpleasant things to consider. Namely, what do you do with the large number of dead bodies that could quickly overwhelm area mortuaries.
If talk like that seems far-fetched, consider that a flu pandemic has happened before.
The 1918 Spanish flu, considered the “mother of all pandemics” by Ms. Chiarello, killed as many as 40 million people worldwide. On one day in Philadelphia, it killed 4,000 people.
Despite the scary statistics, it’s worth remembering the last half of Dr. Smith’s initial comment. A pandemic is coming — “we just don’t know when.”
It could be this year or it could be in 10 or 20 years, according to flu experts.Bird flu, while deadly, has only killed about 160 people worldwide since 2003. That’s because it hasn’t yet mutated into a form that can be easily spread from person to person. That mutation may happen soon or years from now.
But medical experts are scrambling to be prepared for the day it does occur.
For example, work is under way to develop a faster way to develop flu vaccine. In Ohio, as in many states, work is under way to develop detailed plans for responding to a flu pandemic. Dr. Smith said the final version of Ohio’s plan should be completed in March, and getting a good plan finished is “the number one priority for the entire department.”
For more information about pandemic flu visit: the Ohio Department of Health at http://www.odh.state.oh.us/
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Ohio Citizen Corps Region Consolidation |
As
of the first of the year, Ohio Citizen Corps consolidated its nine
regions into four. The consolidation aligns OCC regions into line
with Ohio Homeland Security Regions. The realignment also assigns
a Lead Volunteer Center as manager for two Homeland Security Regions.
The move is aimed to increase efficiency in the OCC infrastructure,
improve volunteer relations and enhance community awareness, prevention
and response capacity. Here are the new contacts.
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In Action and Upcoming Trainings |
Franklin County CERT used
donated three houses in Grove City to conduct tornado disaster training
this past October. Students volunteered top be victims for the exercise.
Concluding the drill, the CERT team reviewed operations and procedures.
Below are pictures from the drill.
Morrow County CERT
members continue to meet on a monthly basis for practice and training.
CERT team members have taken various trainings including TAP training,
traffic control education, tornado table top exercises, and search and
rescue drills. The Morrow County Health Department had a mass clinic
disaster exercise in October. CERT members helped with traffic control
or greeting for over 600 participants who received flu shots.
Below is a photo from a training.
Trainings
| CERT100 (2/25/06-2/26/06) | |
| Course | Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Train-the-Instructor |
| Description | Two-day instructor training course to provide instructors with CERT teaching methodologies. |
| Location | Holy Trinity Church, Parish Hall215 Columbia St. – Jackson, Ohio 45640 |
| Hours | 8:00-5:00 each day |
| Dates of Course | Saturday 2/25/2006 - Sunday 2/26/2006 |
| Course Details | Typically, participants are members of fire, police, emergency medical agencies, public health, emergency management, or disaster-related service organizations. Applicants without a fire, rescue, or disaster preparedness background are required to have completed the standard 20-hour CERT course or equivalent experience/training. |
| Registration Deadline | 2/22/2006 |
| Point of Contact for Registration Questions / Website Problems | Debra Hartman, Ohio EMA Training Section; dkhartman@dps.state.oh.us; 614-799-3824 |
| Point of Contact for Course Info | Rudi Blaser, Ohio EMA Plans Branch; rblaser@dps.state.oh.us; 614-799-3825 |
CERT Training in Delaware on March 20-24, click here for more details.
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Got Weather?National Weather Service offers severe weather training |
With Spring and severe weather
season just around the corner, the National Weather Service (NWS) is
offering free training for citizens interested in becoming weather spotters
in their Skywarn Program. Skywarn spotters are
the eyes and ears of the NWS relaying critical reports back to forecasters
who issue watches and warning. You can help protect your community!
Click
Here for a list of Trainings in Your County!
Ohio Severe Weather Awareness Week is set for March 26th to April 1st. The purpose of severe weather awareness week is promote safety and preparedness tips to people - young and old - so they now what actions to take to protect themselves, their family, pets and property from the hazards of severe weather. A statewide tornado drill will take place on March 29th at 9:50 AM.
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For Kids - Fire Safety |
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year in the United States an estimated 2,800 children age 14 or
younger are injured and 850 killed in residential fires. Of these
children, over 40 percent are under the age five, 70 percent are
under the age of 10. Because the majority of fire casualties occur
in children under the age of 10, the
U.S. Fire Administration
Kids page is targeted towards that age group. The U.S. Fire Administration has a fun web site featuring interactive games and puzzles to assist children in learning fire safety. Visit: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/kids/ |