Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Chief Resilient Officer Advisor to Mayor. $1million Rockefeller Foundation. 100 Resilient Cities. Deadline: September 10, 2014.

100 RESILIENT CITIES
http://www.100resilientcities.org/pages/100-resilient-cities-challenge




FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Tell Me More About The 100 Resilient Cities Challenge.

What is the goal of the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge?
The 100 Resilient Cities Challenge seeks to find 100 cities that are ready to build resilience to the social, economic, and physical challenges that cities face in an increasingly urbanized world.
We can't predict the next disruption or catastrophe. But we can control how we respond to these challenges. We can adapt to the shocks and stresses of our world and transform them into opportunities for growth. If your city applies for the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge, it could be one of 100 cities eligible to receive funding to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, assistance in developing a resilience strategy, access to a platform of innovative private and public sector tools to help design and implement that strategy, and membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network.
Why did 100 Resilient Cities - Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation, start this challenge?
100 Resilient Cities believes that, no matter what the city’s conditions, resilient systems share and demonstrate certain core characteristics. 100 Resilient Cities started this Challenge to facilitate this sharing and build a global practice of resilience among governments, NGOs, the private sector, and individual citizens.
What is the relationship between 100 Resilient Cities and The Rockefeller Foundation?
100 Resilient Cities is financially supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and managed as a sponsored project by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides governance and operational infrastructure to its sponsored projects. The Foundation also provides 100 Resilient Cities with vital expertise, guidance, thought leadership, and contacts around the world. Learn more about 100 Resilient Cities and its relationship to the Rockefeller Foundation here.
When is the deadline for submission?
The deadline for application submission is September 10, 2014 by 23:59:59 GMT. No entries will be accepted after September 10, 2014, by 23:59:59 GMT.
Why do I want to get involved?
The Finalists identified during the 2014 100 Resilient Cities Challenge will be eligible to receive:
  • Funding in the form of a grant to hire a Chief Resilience Officer;
  • Technical support to develop a holistic resilience strategy that reflects each city’s distinct needs;
  • Access to an innovative platform of services to support strategy development and implementation. Platform partners come from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, and will offer tools in areas such as innovative finance, technology, infrastructure, land use, and community and social resilience;
  • Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities network to share knowledge and practices with other member cities.
What will a CRO do?
A Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) is a top-level advisor to the city’s mayor or chief executive. Their task is to bring in stakeholders from across silos of government and sectors of society, and to access all available resilience building tools and experts to develop a resilience strategy. Read more about the role of a CRO here.
We already have emergency response plans. How will a CRO work to incorporate them?
One of the first steps a CRO takes is to catalogue existing plans - the goal is to build on the good work cities have done, not recreate it. CRO’s will work to understand the shocks and stresses that cities face while at the same time evaluating the city’s capacity to address them. This includes learning about existing resilience strategies, and then incorporating them into a single strategy while filling in the gaps, where they exist.
How much money is The Rockefeller Foundation giving our city? $1,000,000?
Through 100 Resilient Cities, cities will receive membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network, support to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, support to create a resilience plan, and tools and resources for implementation, helping to leverage additional billions through innovative finance. There is not a set amount of money that each city will receive since the cost of the benefits – like the CRO – will vary from city to city. Therefore, it is important to note that cities will not be receiving a check for $1 million. But obviously, the benefit of being one of the 100 city members of a $100-million effort will be substantial.

 Is My City Eligible To Apply?

Who is eligible to apply?
Municipal governments and major institutions (e.g., a nonprofit organization, university, chamber of commerce, or research center) that have an affiliation with a city, upon satisfying two specific requirements, are eligible to apply. Check out the 100 Resilient Cities Eligibility here.
My city has a population of 50,000. Can I still participate?
Yes, if you are a city, defined as a legal governmental entity with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants possessing a municipal government or other elected or appointed chief executive officer uniquely assigned to govern that population, you are eligible to apply.
Can only cities apply?
No, major institutions (e.g., a nonprofit organization, university, chamber of commerce, or research center) that have an affiliation with a city are eligible to apply if they satisfy the following two requirements: (1) within the required letter of support, the highest ranking official must indicate agreement with all entry form answers and (2) the entry form must include at least one city contact and a valid email address. Affiliated organizations may also apply when a city cannot represent itself for legal reasons.

 

But How Do I Apply?

How do I submit my application?
Submit an entry form with all required fields completed through the challenge website at 100resilientcities.org/challenge. Entry forms can also be submitted by email to challenge@100resilientcities.org or one of the listed Outreach Associates:
Can I edit or change my entry after I've submitted it?
You may edit your entry until you press the "submit" button, but will not have the ability to change your entry after that point.
May I submit more than one entry to the challenge?
No, each city may only submit one application.
What is an "Outreach Associate?"
We have a team of Outreach Associates, or Community Managers, located across the globe and ready to support your application process. Reach out to them with any questions about the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge, for support completing an application offline, and beyond.
What if I can't apply online?
Apply offline using one of the seven downloadable entry forms here. Upon submission, an Outreach Associate will upload your completed entry to the site on your behalf and you will receive a confirmation email, thanking you for your application.
Are entries accepted in language other than English?
Yes, entrants may submit the entry one of two ways: in English on the website, or by emailing it to an Outreach Associate. The latter option allows the entrant to complete the form offline in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, French, or Spanish. The designated Outreach Associate, as identified on the Challenge website, will then translate the entry into English and upload it on behalf of the entrant to the website.
Does the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge consist of multiple rounds this year?
No, the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge will be a single round. All completed applications are due on September 10, 2014.

 Talk To Me More About Criteria.

What are the criteria for winning?
Check out the criteria listed here.
Who determines the winning entries?
Members of the 100 Resilient Cities team and a panel of expert judges.
What are the judges looking for?
  1. An engaged Mayor or chief executive who shows a commitment to resilience building and an understanding of the broad implications and benefits successful resilience planning can bring;
  2. An ability on the part of the city to work across sectors and levels of government, as well as engage in partnerships with the private sector, NGO’s and civil society groups to achieve complex goals and:
  3. A catalyst for change including a recent or impending shock, or an ongoing or reoccurring acute stress, that is deeply affecting the city and its citizens.
Who will have access to my action plan once I submit it?
Initially, members of the 100 Resilient Cities team and a panel of expert judges will have access to the application. Find additional information on applicant information on our Official Rules page.
Who should I contact if I am having problems with the website?
Contact one of the listed Outreach Associates or emailchallenge@100resilientcities.org.
I submitted my application - now what?
You will receive a confirmation email, thanking you for your application. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please contactchallenge@100resilientcities.org. The 100 Resilient Cities Challenge team will notify you of your status upon completion of the vetting process by early December 2014.

Tell Me More About Urban Resilience.

What is urban resilience?
100 Resilient Cities has a unique and broad view of how urban resilience is defined: the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow, no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience. Shocks are typically considered single event disasters, such as fire, earthquakes, and floods. Stresses are factors that pressure a city on a daily or reoccurring basis, such as chronic food and water shortages, an overtaxed transportation system, or high unemployment.
How do you define the priority areas in Question 9?
Please refer to the following definitions when answering Question 9 on the Challenge Entry Form:
  • Minimal human vulnerability: Indicated by the extent to which everyone’s basic needs are met, before, during, and after an acute shock or chronic stress. Those with basic access to provisions like food, water, sanitation, energy and shelter will be able to better deal with unforeseen circumstances.
  • Diverse livelihoods and employment: Facilitated by skills training, business support and social welfare, which will allow citizens to better withstand changing macroeconomic trends. Access to finance and the ability to accrue savings will allow them to survive and thrive through shocks and stresses, both financial and otherwise.
  • Adequate safeguards to human life and health: Having widespread access to health facilities and services that can fulfill a wide variety of needs, including public education, sanitation, and traditional healthcare services.  Having robust emergency response services.
  • Collective identity and mutual support: Observed as active government engagement with individual communities and vice-versa; and as communities that are well integrated internally, physically, and socially, as well as with other communities.  This allows populations to face adverse events together, without civil unrest and violence.
  • Social stability and security: Having trustworthy and effective law enforcement with a positive and open relationship with citizens, supported by a transparent, just, and effective justice system.  Law enforcement includes crime prevention and reduction, community education, and efforts to reduce corruption.
  • Availability of financial resources and contingency funds: Observed as sound financial management, diverse revenue streams to government, the ability to attract business investment, appropriately allocated capital and emergency funds. Includes the ability of private sector to flourish despite shocks and stresses.
  • Reduced physical exposure and vulnerability: Indicated by stewardship of the ecosystems that provide natural protection to the city; appropriate protective infrastructure that leverages natural protections where possible, effective land-use planning; and enforcement of hazard reduction planning regulations.
  • Continuity of critical services: Characterized by active management and maintenance of critical infrastructure (both natural and manmade) that protects and/or provides services to citizens. This increases the likelihood of this infrastructure surviving and mitigating shocks and stresses, and ensures that plans are in place for failures.
  • Reliable communications and mobility: Indicated by diverse and affordable multimodal transport systems and information and communication technology (ICT) networks, and contingency planning. This facilitates rapid mass evacuation and communication in the case of emergencies, and ensures that cities are well integrated and connected.  Allows for populations, especially the poor and vulnerable, to access employment. 
  • Effective leadership and management: Having a government, business community, and civil society run by trusted individuals who make rational decisions based on the best available information. Those decisions are made with an eye towards best outcomes for citizens, and are made after consultation with a variety of stakeholders.
  • Empowered stakeholders: Indicated by education for all, and access to up-to-date information and knowledge to enable people and organizations to take appropriate action on important issues.  Stakeholders are citizens, private and public sector actors, NGOs, civil society groups and others.
  • Integrated development planning: Indicated by the presence of a sound city vision; a citywide development strategy that makes it possible to deal with multidisciplinary issues such as disaster risk reduction, climate change or emergency response; and plans that are regularly reviewed and updated by cross departmental working groups.
In Question 8, I am asked to name "critical partners" and to "list any concrete examples of planned or completed work." Can this be any joint work with these partners or must it relate to urban resilience?
Please only list planned or completed urban resilience activities. 

Revised Emergency Preparedness Checklist for Health Care Facilities

    Pass along……
    Checklist are a vital part of the preparedness and planning portions of emergency planning.
CMS REVISES EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST
ASHE Insider: July 1, 2014

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has revised its emergency preparedness checklist, a tool it recommends for health care facility emergency planning. The updates, which CMS released in February in a Survey & Certification memo, give more detailed guidance about patient tracking, supplies, and collaboration.

The revisions add procedures to describe if a patient turns up missing during an emergency evacuation, including notification of the patient’s family and local law enforcement. The revised checklist also prompts emergency planners to determine whether staff can have their family members shelter at the facility.

A new section of the checklist states that health care facilities should tailor emergency planning templates to their specific needs and geographic location. The revised checklist also directs hospitals to establish collaborations with various types of health care providers at the state and local level to integrate plans and increase medical response capabilities.
Read the full memo to see all the changes to the checklist.




1
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has revised its emergency preparedness checklist, a tool it recommends for health care facility emergency planning.
Read Article



 Black Emergency Managers Association  
1231  Good Hope Road  S.E.
Washington, D.C.  20020
Office:   202-618-9097 
bEMA 

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.   Tom Peters

…….The search is on.    Preparing the whole community, the whole nation, one world.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Suicide like Race Relations in the U.S. bringing it to the surface openly and honestly.

http://www.teamrubiconusa.org/preventing-suicide-among-the-tr-ranks/



Preventing Suicide Among the TR Ranks

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Suicide Data Report, 2012, “An estimated 22 veterans will have died from suicide each day in the calendar year 2010.” Extrapolate that, and you get over 8,000 veteran suicides annually, a number far too large to not act.
With those statistics in mind, Region 1 wrapped up June 2014 with a weekend-long Applied Suicide Interventions Skills Training (ASIST) where about 20 volunteers assembled in Farmington, CT. Organized by Clay Hunt Fellow Ryan Ginty, the class was taught by Region 6 Resource Manager Klebe Brumble, TR HQ Clinicial Specialist Dane Frost, and TR Program Operations Associate Amanda Burke.
Recognizing vets and first responders don’t necessarily enjoy sitting in a classroom for 12 hours, the training provided a combination of classroom time and practical exercises. Air Force veteran Lourdes Tiglao said, “The role playing portion drove the gravity and seriousness home for many of the participants as to how pervasive the feeling of isolation can be for persons at risk.”
veterans_suicide prevention_team rubicon
While the ASIST model of intervening on a person at risk is meant to be a first responder style of suicide intervention to be used by anyone in any situation, TR hopes those trained on the ASIST model can aid our members in times of crisis.
“Team Rubicon plays a crucial role, not only in disaster response, but in veteran reintegration,” Tiglao said.
Region 2 Program Operations Manager Todd Adrian added, “The experience gained during the classroom training and role playing exercises improves my readiness and confidence in being able to respond to crisis situations, whether during deployments, within our region, or with friends and family.”
The training was made even more valuable by the bonds forged throughout the weekend. It provided our team with an opportunity to get to know each other in a capacity we typically don’t experience during deployments.
Adrian said, “In true TR fashion, members from different regions came together and shared personal experiences with suicide, practiced ASIST skills, and enjoyed camaraderie that transitioned a group of 20 strangers into friends over the course of a weekend.”

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Community Funding Opportunity: $25,000 prize. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Pass along:

   FYI…………….

Greetings MRC Units,

We would like to inform you about an upcoming funding opportunity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The RWJF Culture of Health Prize is awarded to communities that have placed a priority on health and creating powerful partnerships within communities to make a change.

The $25,000 prize honors those communities that are committed to, not only providing access to good quality care, but also to addressing the barriers to better health by transforming our neighborhoods, schools, and businesses so that good health flourishes. This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the work of your unit and how it has impacted your community.

The cash prize will be designated to a local US governmental or tax exempt public charity (i.e. housing organization, or MRC unit with 501c3 status). Up to 10 communities will be awarded this prize.

The RWJF Culture of Health Prize is awarded to a “community” that fits into the following categories:
• Town

• City

• County

• Tribe or Tribal Community

• Region (such as contiguous towns, cities, or counties)


Because the prize recognizes whole communities, You will need to convey a multi-partner approach when applying.



Key Dates:

July 22, 2014, 3 p.m. ET
Informational webinar (registration required; click HERE <https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/918119969> to register).

September 17, 2014 3 p.m. ET
Phase I Applications (for all applicant communities) due.


For full details on how to apply please visit http://www.rwjf.org/en/grants/calls-for-proposals/2014/rwjf-culture-of-health-prize.html

Best,
NACCHO's MRC team 


Black Emergency Managers Association  
1231  Good Hope Road  S.E.
Washington, D.C.  20020
Office:   202-618-9097 
bEMA 

“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” ― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Infection Control: Basic Concepts and Practices

http://www.ific.narod.ru/Manual/Hands.htm


 
 Hand Hygiene

Introduction

The natural flora of the mouth and the bowel has bacterial concentrations up to 10^10 per ml and are significant reservoirs of nosocomial or hospital pathogens. In hospitalised patients, the skin may become colonised with multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens, and infected wounds and other lesions are also potential sources of cross-infecting organisms. 

Pathogenic organisms from colonized and infected patients (and sometimes from the environment) transiently contaminate the hands of staff during normal clinical activities and can then be transferred to other patients. Hand transmission is one of the most important methods of spread of infectious agents in health care facilities. Proper hand hygiene is an effective method for preventing the transfer of microbes between staff and patients.

The microbial flora of the skin consists of resident and transient microorganisms. Resident organisms (e.g., coagulase negative staphylococci, diphtheroids) survive and multiply in the superficial skin layers. The transient microbial flora of the skin consists of recent contaminants that survive only for a limited period of time. These microorganisms (e.g., S. aureusE. coli, enterococci) may be acquired by contact with the normal flora or colonised or infected sites of the patient or from the inanimate hospital environment. If the skin of staff members' hands is damaged, the bacterial count on the skin becomes higher. There is also a risk for colonisation with bacteria not normally belonging to the hand flora.
Three levels of decontamination of hands are recognized.

Social handwashing with plain soap and water removes most transient microorganisms from moderately soiled hands.

Hygienic handwashing or disinfection is a procedure where an antiseptic detergent preparation is used for washing or hands are disinfected with alcohol (alcoholic rub). This is a more effective method to remove and kill transient microorganisms.

The distinction between the need for social handwashing and hygienic hand washing may not always be clear. A thorough social hand wash may be appropriate if disinfectants are not available.

Surgical handwashing is performed with the aim of removing and killing the transient flora and decreasing the resident flora in order to reduce the risk of wound contamination if surgical gloves become damaged. Agents are the same as for the hygienic hand wash.

A defined technique for decontamination of hands is probably of greater importance than the agent used. The technique presented in Figure 4.1 is recommended.

When to wash hands
Social handwashing
  • before handling food, eating
  • before feeding the patient
  • after visiting the toilet.
Hygienic handwashing or alcoholic rub
  • before and after nursing the patient
  • before performing invasive procedures
  • before caring for susceptible patients (such as the immunocompromised)
  • before and after touching wounds, urethral catheters, and other indwelling devices
  • before and after wearing gloves
  • after contact with blood secretions or else following situations in which microbial contamination is likely to have occurred
  • after contact with a patient known to be colonised with a significant nosocomial pathogen (such as MRSA, MDRKlebsiella)
An alcoholic hand rub, ideally from a dispenser at the patient's bedside is the most efficient and least time consuming procedure for hand decontamination.
Surgical handwashing
  • before all surgical procedures
Methods
Watches and rings reduce hand washing/disinfection effectiveness and should be removed during hand hygiene. Some suggest that they not be worn in patient care.

Social hand washing
In social hand washing, vigorous and mechanical friction is applied to all surfaces of lathered hands using plain soap and water for at least 10 seconds using a defined technique (Fig. 4.1). The hands are rinsed under a stream of water and dried with paper towel.  In the absence of running water, a clean bowl of water should be used. The bowl should be cleaned and water changed between each use. Alternatively, a drum with a drain spout could be elevated to serve as running water. Similarly, in the absence of paper towels, a small clean cloth could be used, but the towel should not be used for extended communal use and should be discarded after each use into a bag designated for laundering and reuse.
In places where there is frequent disruption of water supply, water should be stored in large receptacles whenever water is available. The water should be free from infectious agents.

Recommended hand wash agents
Hygienic hand washing/disinfection
Aqueous
  • 4% chlorhexidine gluconate/detergent solution
  • Povidone - iodine/detergent solution containing 0.75% available iodine
Wet hands with clean (running) water or, if not available, from water in a bowl. Apply cleanser (3-5 ml) depending on the product or thoroughly lather with soap.  Wash the hands for 10-15 seconds, applying friction over all hand surfaces, rinse and dry as described above.
Alcoholic
  • 0.5% chlorhexidine or povidone-iodine in 70% isopropanol or ethanol
  • 60% isopropanol or 70% ethanol without antiseptic
Apply not less than 3ml of the preparation to the hands and rub to dryness (approximately 30 seconds). Alcohol is more effective than aqueous antiseptic solutions, but a preliminary wash may be needed for physically soiled hands. Alcohol is an effective alternative when there is no water or towels readily available and there is need for rapid hand disinfection. Alcohol products with emollients added will cause less skin irritation and drying to hands (1-3% glycerol).

Surgical hand washing/disinfection
Agents for surgical hand washing are the same as for the hygienic hand wash. The difference is the time of scrub that is increased to 2-3 min and should include wrists and forearms. If an alcoholic preparation is used, two applications of 5ml each rubbed to dryness are suggested.
  • Sterile disposable or autoclavable nailbrushes may be used to clean the fingernails only, but not to scrub the hands.
  • A brush should only be used for the first scrub of the day.
  • After hand washing with soap and water, a hand rub with an alcoholic base formulation (70%) should be used if possible. This enhances the destruction or inhibition of resident skin flora.
  • Sterile towels should be used to dry the hands thoroughly after washing and before alcohol is applied.
Important Points to Note
  • When bar soap is in use, it should be kept dry to prevent contamination with microorganisms that grow in moist conditions.
  • Liquid soap dispensers should be regularly cleaned and maintained.
  • Gloves should not be regarded as a substitute for hand hygiene. A glove is not always a complete impermeable barrier (20-30% of surgical gloves are punctured during surgery). However, gloves reduce very substantially the number of microorganisms being transferred to the patient or to the HCW who is wearing the gloves. Gloves also provide some protection against the transmission of blood-borne viruses.
  • In an epidemic situation, hand hygiene and the use of gloves are important protective measures to prevent the transmission of infectious agents to susceptible patients or staff. The same glove must not be worn from one patient to another patient, or between clean and dirty procedures on the same patient.
  • An alcoholic rub or hand wash should be performed after removing gloves and before sterile gloves are worn.
In areas where gloves are not readily available, latex gloves can be washed with soap and water, dried, powdered, sterilized or high level disinfected and reused. Sterilisation is preferable for surgical procedures.

Minimal requirements
  • Watches and rings reduce hand washing effectiveness and should be removed.
  • Wash hands with soap and water and dry thoroughly with a clean towel at the start of a clinical shift or if hands become grossly soiled.
  • Decontaminate hands with a hand disinfectant or alcoholic rinse or rub between each patient contact.
  • Perform a surgical scrub before each operation.
  • Wear gloves as necessary to reduce transfer of organisms to patient and to reduce transmission of blood borne viruses.
Bibliography
  1. Standard principles for preventing hospital-acquired infections. Journal of Hospital Infection 2001;47(Suppl):S21-S37.
  2. Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings - 2002. MMWR 2002;51(RR-16):1-44.

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