Agenda - 11-18-2003-9b - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 establishing a hotline for parent telephone inquiries, working closely with school staff to monitor attendance, and cormunity outreach. This event was the same time that there was a "downburst"/tornado in Hillsborough that required a boiled water notice to be issued to Hillsborough customers. In October 2001, anthrax sc,~res abounded throughout the country. Orange County was no exception. Law enforcement investigated more than 300 resident incidents. Ten samples were sent to the st~rte laboratory for testing. Countless hours were spent in devising plans to calm public: fears and to follow-upon possible exposures. One incident had it proven positive would have required at least 80 persons to receive counseling and antibiotics. • The spring of 2002 brought ~~ federal and state requirement to develop a mass smallpox vaccination plan and to vaccinate first responders. Preventing the spread of vaccinia virus as a result of the vaccine required careful planning and control. • In 2001 and on, the initial spread of West Nile Virus required staff to develop educational materials and an outreach plan that would first reach vulnerable populations and then the entire population. Again, a riotline was established to respond to community concerns. In 2002, North Carolina had its first human cases. • In June of 2003, the only confirmed SARS case in North Carolina was in Orange County. As a new disease, many of the response plans required flexibility and change as the patterns of disease were better understood internationally. Staff were required to manage the public health re:~ponse as well as engage in community response planning with partners. From one case, staff actively monitored 35 individuals for at least aten- day period to ensure there was no spread. Again, a hotline was established for community concerns. • These were all major events. In addition, the department responds as part of the multihazard plan in "regular" emergency responses such as the December- 2002 ice storm, hurricane and tornado responses. • Finally, there are "minor" responses (in the number of actual cases) to pertussis, meningitis, tuberculosis, and similar cases each year in the County. It is vital to respond quickly and effectively to cortain the spread of these diseases. In the past four years, these actual experiences have highlighted the need for fully developed, dynamic response plans. Recent Activities In fiscal year 2002-2003, the feder~~l government allocated additional funds to the state for disbursement to local health departments for risk communication, planning, and training on a competitive basis. The Health Department used those funds ($39,000 for six months) to contract with a nurse who accomplished the following in six months: • Began developing a medical volunteer corps to augment the department's resources in a large-scale event (see Attachment 1 for specific numbers already recruited "OCEAN & Public Health Corps Recruitrnent") • Reapplied for the Medical RE;serve Corps grant that had been denied in 2002 • Began revising the Orange County Strategic National Pharmaceutical Stockpile Plan required by the federal government • Began negotiating memoran~Jums of understanding with the NJNC School of Nursing regarding emergency response personnel. A contract was an expedient tool to start this process quickly with partial year funding. It was also unclear at the time that this furidina would become a permanent allocation to the state from