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 Home > Regional MRC Coordinators > Gail N. Newell > Region VIII Newsletters > Region VIII Newsletter - October 2005A Quarterly e-Newsletter Serving the MRC Units of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and WyomingIn this issue:
Update on the Aftermath of HurricanesOctober 13, 2005 Dear MRC leaders, volunteers and others interested in the MRC Program, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along our nation’s Gulf Coast six weeks ago. Hurricane Rita followed about 3 weeks later. These events, along with the Tsunami in southeast Asia last December, the terrorist bombings in London and Bali, and the devastating earthquake in Pakistan just a few days ago, reinforce the fact that we all need to be prepared for any type of emergency that may come our way. We cannot afford to become complacent now that “crisis mode” has ended. I strongly encourage all MRC units to continue the activities started during National Preparedness Month and to make them ongoing activities. A first step is to ensure that every MRC member is personally prepared (i.e., has a family emergency plan, emergency kits, etc.). The MRC program was designed to supplement the existing public health and emergency capabilities in local communities, and the MRC units have performed quite well in meeting the local needs following the hurricanes. MRC units have also supported their state needs for assistance. An estimated 6,000 MRC volunteers from many of the 330 MRC units across the country have been helping with the response and recovery efforts in their local communities. When the U.S. Surgeon General asked the Medical Reserve Corps to help at the national level, many MRC units and volunteers answered that call as well. More than 1,500 Medical Reserve Corps members from across the nation have volunteered to help in the disaster areas through our partnership with the American Red Cross and with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Though not all were deployed, many of these individuals have helped, or are currently helping, in some of the areas that were hardest hit by the hurricanes. Thankfully, many of the needs are now being met by the local authorities and our national level activations are ending. I am very proud of the accomplishments of the Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and leaders during this very tough time. Warmest Regards, CDR Rob Tosatto Welcome New UnitsRegion VIII has two new units as of October! The newest unit is in Richfield, UT, and the coordinator is Mr. A.C. Baldwin. This unit is called the South-Central Utah MRC and covers the counties of Juab, Sevier, Sanpete, Millard, Wayne, and Piute. The other new unit is the Mesa County Medical Reserve Corps, in Grand Junction, CO. The unit coordinator is Ms. Alice Frank. Alice and her team of volunteers deployed many volunteers to the Gulf Coast area in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and managed to successfully organize their unit in a very short timeframe. Please welcome these new units! Region VIII MRC ConferenceThe first Region VIII MRC Conference is scheduled on November 14th and 15th. It is being held in Denver, CO, at the downtown Comfort Inn. We have a strong agenda and excellent speakers, so I hope those attending will find the information very valuable as they develop their MRC units further. The topics were requested by the Region VIII unit coordinators and directors. The conference topics are:
If you have any questions about the conference, please let me know. My phone number is (303) 844-7848, and my e-mail address is gail.newell@hhs.gov. Looking for Grants? Sign-up for the Grants.gov Mailing List!Grants.gov is a centralized location for searching for Federal grant opportunities. As of November 7, 2005, all Federal agencies must post their grant opportunities online, making Federal grant opportunities more easily accessible. To sign up for notices of new grant opportunities, visit the Grants.gov Web site. You can sign up to receive all grant postings or narrow your search by agency or category of funding activity. The Grants.gov Web site also contains useful resources for grant-seekers and proposal writers. NIMS AlertPreliminary List of Federal Preparedness Grant Programs Available Online From NIMS Integration CenterWASHINGTON – The NIMS Integration Center is making available a preliminary list of federal preparedness grant programs. The information was provided by federal departments and agencies to the center and includes federal preparedness funding programs with state and local jurisdictions such as cooperative agreements and memorandums of understanding and grants and contracts. The NIMS Integration Center is making this preliminary list available to help state and local entities identify funding streams that may be affected in connection with NIMS implementation requirements. This should not be considered a definitive list of federal preparedness grants and cooperative agreements. Disaster assistance funds are not tied to NIMS compliance. More information about federal assistance programs for state, local, and tribal governments can be found in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Additional information can be found at the DHS Office of Domestic Preparedness. Questions about NIMS may be sent to NIMS-Integration-Center@dhs.gov, or call 202-646-3850. National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism Makes First Recommendations for PreparednessIntegrating the special needs of children into Federal, State, regional, and local disaster planning for terrorist events is critical. The National Advisory Committee of Children and Terrorism, created by the 2002 Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act, issued its first report in June 2003. The committee’s recommendations, based on those developed at a consensus conference of a multidisciplinary group of experts, were outlined in a recent article by David Markenson, M.D., F.A.A.P. E.M.T.P., and Irwin Redlener, M.D., F.A.A.P., of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. The recommendations address the particular vulnerabilities of children to terrorist attacks and disasters and represent a first step in improving disaster and terrorism preparedness for children. The recommendations focus on eight major areas: emergency and pre-hospital care; hospital care, terrorism preparedness and response to biological, chemical, and radiological agents, physical protection; decontamination, and the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). For more information, see “Pediatric terrorism preparedness national guidelines and recommendations: Findings of an evidence-based consensus process,” by Drs. Markenson and Redlener, in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science 2(4), pp. 301-319, 2004. Attention All MRC Units!!!!Please keep your unit’s profile updated! There are several MRC units in Region VIII who have not updated their information on the MRC Web site. This affects your ability to attract potential volunteers. Many potential volunteers research the Web site and look at the information for their state, only to find that the unit profile does not include the number of volunteers or any recent activities. The MRC Program Office recommends that you update you profile at least quarterly so that the most recent information is available online. Medicare Modernization Act Enrollment Begins November 15thIn December of 2003, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). This historic legislation will provide prescription drug coverage for the first time to America’s seniors effective on January 1, 2006. Your MRC unit can play an important role in informing seniors in your community of this program. The Region VIII Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) can provide you with informational materials, such as brochures, enrollment forms, etc., that you can make available at health fairs, public education events, and other community activities. For more information, please contact Gail Newell, Region VIII Medical Reserve Corps Coordinator at (303) 844-7848 or the regional point of contact:
Region VIII MRC Coordinator Contact InformationGail N. Newell Last Updated on 8/14/2006 |
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