Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools. The goal of the month is to increase public awareness about the importance of preparing for emergencies and to encourage individuals to take action.
Throughout September, DHS will work with a wide variety of organizations, including local, state and federal government agencies and the private sector, to highlight the importance of emergency preparedness and promote individual involvement through events and activities across the nation.
The FKDC wants to thank the 100+ facilities that decided to pioneer preparedness for themselves, their staff, and their patients by participating in the All Hazards Educational Series and completing the pre-quiz. To promote National Preparedness Month, the highest scoring facilities were asked to contribute their own preparedness stories to the FKDC blog.
For more information, visit www.ready.gov or www.listo.gov
Remember that the All Hazards Educational Series runs until December. It’s not too late to participate. You can visit www.fmqai.com/esrd/fkdc and click on the “Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition Tools” link for more information.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
FKDC Launches an All Hazards Education Program
Friday, August 3, 2007
To NW7 Facility Administrators:
The Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition (FKDC) is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for disaster education. This series of faxblasts will inform Floridians about disasters that are likely to happen in our area. There are more everyday dangers to Florida than just hurricanes!
You will receive one “All-Hazards Educational Series” faxblast every week. If you miss a fax, check the FKDC website (www.fmqai.com/ESRD/FKDC) to download them as they become available. Compile each faxblast in a notebook. When the series is complete, you will have a complete all-hazards handbook.
Facilities are encouraged to complete the pre-quiz. It is a short, ten question quiz about disasters that are likely to happen in Florida. Following the series, FKDC will issue a post-quiz. Each facility completing and returning the pre-quiz and the post-quiz will receive an achievement certificate!
You should receive the first faxblast on Monday, August 20. You will get a new hazard topic each week until December 17th. After the series is complete, you should have 15 topics in your folder. There will not be any topics for the weeks of September 3rd (Labor Day), November 12th (Veterans Day) or November 19th (Thanksgiving).
Topics will include hazardous materials, radiological emergencies, disaster basics, terrorism, pandemics, floods, tropical storms, hurricanes, post-storm safety, and more!
Complete the attached pre-quiz and fax it back. Be sure to include your provider number, name of your facility, a contact person, and a contact telephone number.
Start receiving the All-Hazards Educational Series faxblasts. If you miss a week, check the FKDC website to download a copy. Compile each topic into a folder.
When the series is complete, fill out and return the post-quiz to receive your certificate!
Being knowledgeable and prepared and can be easy and fun. Join FKDC in raising awareness about all the Florida disasters. For more information or questions, please call us at (813) 383-1530 and ask for Sherilyn Burris (extension 3267) or Sally Gore (extension 3266) at or visit us at http://www.fmqai.com/library/attachment-library/All_Hazards.pdf
To NW7 Facility Administrators:
The Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition (FKDC) is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for disaster education. This series of faxblasts will inform Floridians about disasters that are likely to happen in our area. There are more everyday dangers to Florida than just hurricanes!
You will receive one “All-Hazards Educational Series” faxblast every week. If you miss a fax, check the FKDC website (www.fmqai.com/ESRD/FKDC) to download them as they become available. Compile each faxblast in a notebook. When the series is complete, you will have a complete all-hazards handbook.
Facilities are encouraged to complete the pre-quiz. It is a short, ten question quiz about disasters that are likely to happen in Florida. Following the series, FKDC will issue a post-quiz. Each facility completing and returning the pre-quiz and the post-quiz will receive an achievement certificate!
You should receive the first faxblast on Monday, August 20. You will get a new hazard topic each week until December 17th. After the series is complete, you should have 15 topics in your folder. There will not be any topics for the weeks of September 3rd (Labor Day), November 12th (Veterans Day) or November 19th (Thanksgiving).
Topics will include hazardous materials, radiological emergencies, disaster basics, terrorism, pandemics, floods, tropical storms, hurricanes, post-storm safety, and more!
Complete the attached pre-quiz and fax it back. Be sure to include your provider number, name of your facility, a contact person, and a contact telephone number.
Start receiving the All-Hazards Educational Series faxblasts. If you miss a week, check the FKDC website to download a copy. Compile each topic into a folder.
When the series is complete, fill out and return the post-quiz to receive your certificate!
Being knowledgeable and prepared and can be easy and fun. Join FKDC in raising awareness about all the Florida disasters. For more information or questions, please call us at (813) 383-1530 and ask for Sherilyn Burris (extension 3267) or Sally Gore (extension 3266) at or visit us at http://www.fmqai.com/library/attachment-library/All_Hazards.pdf
Saturday, July 21, 2007
FKDC Joins the National Preparedness Month Coalition
The Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition (FKDC) joined the National Preparedness Month Coalition 2007. As a coalition member, FKDC pledges to promote emergency preparedness throughout September and beyond.
Part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the fourth annual National Preparedness Month encourages Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and communities. This year's effort has a growing coalition of more than 625 national, regional, state, and local organizations pledging support.
"It is vital that Americans take steps to prepare for emergencies at home, work or school," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "Personal preparedness is paramount to effectively reacting to the effects of a disaster. By preparing yourself, your family, and your businesses, you allow first responders to prioritize efforts and aid."
Homeland Security Committee members, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, and Reps. Bennie Thompson and Peter King, have agreed to serve as honorary Congressional co-chairs of National Preparedness Month 2007 and lead the effort to increase public awareness on the importance of emergency preparedness on Capitol Hill.
The goal of National Preparedness Month is to increase public awareness about the importance of preparing for emergencies including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks and to encourage individuals to take action to prepare themselves and their families.
The month provides Americans with a variety of opportunities to learn more about emergency preparedness. Events and activities across the nation will encourage individuals to get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses and get involved in preparing their communities.
Homeland Security is working with a wide variety of organizations, including national, regional, state and local government organizations to highlight the importance of public emergency preparedness throughout September. In 2006, more than 1,370 national, regional, state and local organizations joined the National Preparedness Month Coalition and supported this important effort by disseminating emergency preparedness messages to their customers, members, employees, stakeholders and communities across the nation.
Throughout the year, DHS promotes individual emergency preparedness through the Ready Campaign. Ready is a national public service advertising campaign produced by The Advertising Council that is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. The campaign's Web sites (www.ready.gov and www.listo.gov) and toll-free numbers (1-800-BE-READY and 1-888-SE-LISTO) provide Americans with free preparedness information.
For more information on how FKDC is promoting National Preparedness Month, contact Sherilyn Burris at sburris@nw7.esrd.net
Part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the fourth annual National Preparedness Month encourages Americans to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and communities. This year's effort has a growing coalition of more than 625 national, regional, state, and local organizations pledging support.
"It is vital that Americans take steps to prepare for emergencies at home, work or school," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "Personal preparedness is paramount to effectively reacting to the effects of a disaster. By preparing yourself, your family, and your businesses, you allow first responders to prioritize efforts and aid."
Homeland Security Committee members, Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, and Reps. Bennie Thompson and Peter King, have agreed to serve as honorary Congressional co-chairs of National Preparedness Month 2007 and lead the effort to increase public awareness on the importance of emergency preparedness on Capitol Hill.
The goal of National Preparedness Month is to increase public awareness about the importance of preparing for emergencies including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks and to encourage individuals to take action to prepare themselves and their families.
The month provides Americans with a variety of opportunities to learn more about emergency preparedness. Events and activities across the nation will encourage individuals to get an emergency supply kit, make a family emergency plan, be informed about the different types of emergencies that could occur and their appropriate responses and get involved in preparing their communities.
Homeland Security is working with a wide variety of organizations, including national, regional, state and local government organizations to highlight the importance of public emergency preparedness throughout September. In 2006, more than 1,370 national, regional, state and local organizations joined the National Preparedness Month Coalition and supported this important effort by disseminating emergency preparedness messages to their customers, members, employees, stakeholders and communities across the nation.
Throughout the year, DHS promotes individual emergency preparedness through the Ready Campaign. Ready is a national public service advertising campaign produced by The Advertising Council that is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks. The campaign's Web sites (www.ready.gov and www.listo.gov) and toll-free numbers (1-800-BE-READY and 1-888-SE-LISTO) provide Americans with free preparedness information.
For more information on how FKDC is promoting National Preparedness Month, contact Sherilyn Burris at sburris@nw7.esrd.net
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Disaster Preparedness Activities in Florida
Are you ready for Hurricane Season? Do you have a plan? For End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients, these questions are particularly important. In order to ensure that dialysis providers and community stakeholders are planning for the unique needs of dialysis patients, the Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition is planning collaborative disaster preparedness meetings in Duval and Orange counties (dates to be announced).
These meetings will be attended by dialysis providers, emergency management officials and other community stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness and response. As with Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, we expect these meetings to create a learning environment for all those who attend, open lines of communication between providers and emergency management officials, and identify gaps in current disaster preparedness plans. Are you a provider in Orange or Duval county?
Contact the FKDC if you would like more information, would like to be involved in the planning, or would like to attend the meeting, please email FKDC at fkdc@nw7.esrd.net
Have you thought about pandemic prepardness? Or did the bird flu fly right out of your mind when the news coverage ended? Pandemic preparedness is especially critical for dialysis patients. As of now, the key responses for an outbreak of avian flu include: isolate, quarantine, stay home.... not very realistic for ESRD patients. Dialysis patients cannot "just stay home."
“The conversation about individual preparedness for pandemic flu must extend nationwide through all possible channels, including social media and the Internet,” HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said recently.
Additionally, anyone concerned about pandemic flu is encouraged to be more involved. There are several pandemic preparedness meetings happening in Florida. The Florida Hospital Association, in conjunction with the American Red Cross®, Roche, and the University of Florida School of Public Health, has designed a workshop that brings together hospital stakeholders from across the state to discuss the challenging issues of planning for an influenza pandemic. This State of Florida Working Session on Healthcare Pandemic Planning will be held on Thursday, June 28, 2007 at the Emergency Operations Center in Winter Park, Florida. The Hernando County Health Department will also be holding a Pandemic Flu exercise on June 28.
For more information, please visit http://www.dstftraining.net/uploads/Hernando_Pan_Flu_Ex.pdfIf you want more information on pandemic preparedness, check out this website:http://www.pandemictoolkit.com/
These meetings will be attended by dialysis providers, emergency management officials and other community stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness and response. As with Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, we expect these meetings to create a learning environment for all those who attend, open lines of communication between providers and emergency management officials, and identify gaps in current disaster preparedness plans. Are you a provider in Orange or Duval county?
Contact the FKDC if you would like more information, would like to be involved in the planning, or would like to attend the meeting, please email FKDC at fkdc@nw7.esrd.net
Have you thought about pandemic prepardness? Or did the bird flu fly right out of your mind when the news coverage ended? Pandemic preparedness is especially critical for dialysis patients. As of now, the key responses for an outbreak of avian flu include: isolate, quarantine, stay home.... not very realistic for ESRD patients. Dialysis patients cannot "just stay home."
“The conversation about individual preparedness for pandemic flu must extend nationwide through all possible channels, including social media and the Internet,” HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said recently.
Additionally, anyone concerned about pandemic flu is encouraged to be more involved. There are several pandemic preparedness meetings happening in Florida. The Florida Hospital Association, in conjunction with the American Red Cross®, Roche, and the University of Florida School of Public Health, has designed a workshop that brings together hospital stakeholders from across the state to discuss the challenging issues of planning for an influenza pandemic. This State of Florida Working Session on Healthcare Pandemic Planning will be held on Thursday, June 28, 2007 at the Emergency Operations Center in Winter Park, Florida. The Hernando County Health Department will also be holding a Pandemic Flu exercise on June 28.
For more information, please visit http://www.dstftraining.net/uploads/Hernando_Pan_Flu_Ex.pdfIf you want more information on pandemic preparedness, check out this website:http://www.pandemictoolkit.com/
Monday, June 11, 2007
Local dialysis patients learn what to do In threat of hurricane (Liz Freeman, naplesnews.com)
Local dialysis patients learn what to do in threat of hurricane
NaplesNews.com story by Liz Freeman, Friday, June 8, 2007
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jun/08/local_dialysis_patients_learn_what_do_threat_hurri/?breaking_news
Sophia Hadley doesn’t fret about how she would get her dialysis treatment if all hell breaks loose with a hurricane striking Southwest Florida.
That’s because the 36-year-old is a patient at Naples Artificial Kidney Center, 3699 Airport-Pulling Road N., where the center’s social worker sits down with each patient before the June 1 start of hurricane season. The social worker goes over a detailed pre- and post-storm response plan, to assure patients that they will not go without their lifesaving dialysis, necessary three times a week.
“When hurricane season comes, they give us a list of things we need, they give us ideas of what we should eat and a list of the medicines and list with our (treatment) type,” said Hadley, who has been on dialysis 12 years.
Owned by the national company, Fresenius Medical Care North America, the Naples center and its other Southwest Florida affiliates have revamped their disaster plans since Hurricane Katrina, aiming to address the needs of both patients and employees so their dialysis operations can carry on.
A national competitor in the region, DaVita Inc., which has dialysis centers in Fort Myers and Naples, similarly has detailed hurricane plans.
The Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition has focused on developing a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan to address the needs of the 26,000 Floridians with kidney failure who require dialysis, said Sarah Knott, head social worker for Fresenius at the company’s office in Tampa. Knott previously worked in the company’s Southwest Florida clinics.
“The Kidney Disaster Coalition is to make sure all units, not just Fresenius, are prepared for hurricanes,” she said.
Besides the one-on-one sessions with each patient, Fresenius operates a toll-free number that is staffed 12 hours a day so patients and members of their families can locate a dialysis center near their place of evacuation and will make arrangements with the alternative site.
If a patient plans to go to a special-needs shelter, the clinics will register their patients with Collier County Emergency Management for the special-needs shelter, she said.
Before any of the dialysis centers shut down while a storm approaches, every patient undergoes a session, even if it is not his or her regular dialysis day.“So everyone is in good shape,” Knott said.
The centers don’t arrange for transportation but will coordinate transportation through the county for those who don’t have the means to get to a center after a storm. That was the case for some patients after Hurricane Wilma hit southern Collier County on Oct. 24, 2005.
“After Wilma, (the county) was very good about it,” she said. “They brought the patients to dialysis.”
In Fort Lauderdale, the Fresenius-owned Florida Kidney Center was the only dialysis center operational after Wilma in the region, taking in individuals from dialysis clinics run by other companies, she said.
All Fresenius-owned centers have generators that kick in when the electricity goes out and all have arrangements for water tank trucks to come on site and connect to a center’s water treatment system, said Todd Parker, the company’s regional technical manager for North Florida.
“We ran that way for a week right after Wilma at the Naples Artificial Kidney Center,” Knott said. “We took care of some patients from Clewiston and Belle Glade.”
Each generator runs $60,000 to $90,000 and each water hook-up system for the trucked-in tanks runs $500, Parker said.
In addition, the company has a logistics center at a warehouse with supplies and six recreational vehicles that can be sent to hurricane-damaged communities to house clinic employees whose homes have been damaged, he said.
“Previously we have put them right on the site (of the clinics),” Parker said of the RVs. “So we can take care of our own. Our focus is to get as much ready for recovery to create a little command center.”
DaVita Inc., which has five clinics in Fort Myers and one in Naples, likewise enhanced its hurricane plans after Katrina, said David McKenzie, a division vice president at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters.
“We have a little over 100 dialysis centers in the state of Florida,” he said.All patients are educated about the plan before the storm and all are given a wrist band with a toll-free number to call to get help and find out the nearest center that is open, he said. Patients are encouraged to evacuate if they can.
The larger clinics have permanent generators and there are 15 generators that can be trucked in to smaller clinics that have lost power, he said. The company has arrangements for water to be brought in but that hasn’t been a problem during the past storms in Florida.
“During a disaster, we literally take in all-comers — we don’t care where they come from,” he said. “Billing is not relevant at that time.”
Hadley, the Naples resident who is a patient at Fresenius-owned Naples Artificial Kidney Center, remembers her experience before and after Wilma. She didn’t evacuate and stayed in her Golden Gate home.
She received a dialysis session on Sunday, the day before Wilma made landfall, and had her next dialysis on Wednesday. By then, the center was off its generator and back on normal power.
“They assured us everything would be OK and prepared us,” she said. “I felt confident.”
She feels the same going into hurricane season now.
“Oh yes, I’m confident nothing will happen without reason,” she said. “I’m prepared.”
NaplesNews.com story by Liz Freeman, Friday, June 8, 2007
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jun/08/local_dialysis_patients_learn_what_do_threat_hurri/?breaking_news
Sophia Hadley doesn’t fret about how she would get her dialysis treatment if all hell breaks loose with a hurricane striking Southwest Florida.
That’s because the 36-year-old is a patient at Naples Artificial Kidney Center, 3699 Airport-Pulling Road N., where the center’s social worker sits down with each patient before the June 1 start of hurricane season. The social worker goes over a detailed pre- and post-storm response plan, to assure patients that they will not go without their lifesaving dialysis, necessary three times a week.
“When hurricane season comes, they give us a list of things we need, they give us ideas of what we should eat and a list of the medicines and list with our (treatment) type,” said Hadley, who has been on dialysis 12 years.
Owned by the national company, Fresenius Medical Care North America, the Naples center and its other Southwest Florida affiliates have revamped their disaster plans since Hurricane Katrina, aiming to address the needs of both patients and employees so their dialysis operations can carry on.
A national competitor in the region, DaVita Inc., which has dialysis centers in Fort Myers and Naples, similarly has detailed hurricane plans.
The Florida Kidney Disaster Coalition has focused on developing a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan to address the needs of the 26,000 Floridians with kidney failure who require dialysis, said Sarah Knott, head social worker for Fresenius at the company’s office in Tampa. Knott previously worked in the company’s Southwest Florida clinics.
“The Kidney Disaster Coalition is to make sure all units, not just Fresenius, are prepared for hurricanes,” she said.
Besides the one-on-one sessions with each patient, Fresenius operates a toll-free number that is staffed 12 hours a day so patients and members of their families can locate a dialysis center near their place of evacuation and will make arrangements with the alternative site.
If a patient plans to go to a special-needs shelter, the clinics will register their patients with Collier County Emergency Management for the special-needs shelter, she said.
Before any of the dialysis centers shut down while a storm approaches, every patient undergoes a session, even if it is not his or her regular dialysis day.“So everyone is in good shape,” Knott said.
The centers don’t arrange for transportation but will coordinate transportation through the county for those who don’t have the means to get to a center after a storm. That was the case for some patients after Hurricane Wilma hit southern Collier County on Oct. 24, 2005.
“After Wilma, (the county) was very good about it,” she said. “They brought the patients to dialysis.”
In Fort Lauderdale, the Fresenius-owned Florida Kidney Center was the only dialysis center operational after Wilma in the region, taking in individuals from dialysis clinics run by other companies, she said.
All Fresenius-owned centers have generators that kick in when the electricity goes out and all have arrangements for water tank trucks to come on site and connect to a center’s water treatment system, said Todd Parker, the company’s regional technical manager for North Florida.
“We ran that way for a week right after Wilma at the Naples Artificial Kidney Center,” Knott said. “We took care of some patients from Clewiston and Belle Glade.”
Each generator runs $60,000 to $90,000 and each water hook-up system for the trucked-in tanks runs $500, Parker said.
In addition, the company has a logistics center at a warehouse with supplies and six recreational vehicles that can be sent to hurricane-damaged communities to house clinic employees whose homes have been damaged, he said.
“Previously we have put them right on the site (of the clinics),” Parker said of the RVs. “So we can take care of our own. Our focus is to get as much ready for recovery to create a little command center.”
DaVita Inc., which has five clinics in Fort Myers and one in Naples, likewise enhanced its hurricane plans after Katrina, said David McKenzie, a division vice president at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters.
“We have a little over 100 dialysis centers in the state of Florida,” he said.All patients are educated about the plan before the storm and all are given a wrist band with a toll-free number to call to get help and find out the nearest center that is open, he said. Patients are encouraged to evacuate if they can.
The larger clinics have permanent generators and there are 15 generators that can be trucked in to smaller clinics that have lost power, he said. The company has arrangements for water to be brought in but that hasn’t been a problem during the past storms in Florida.
“During a disaster, we literally take in all-comers — we don’t care where they come from,” he said. “Billing is not relevant at that time.”
Hadley, the Naples resident who is a patient at Fresenius-owned Naples Artificial Kidney Center, remembers her experience before and after Wilma. She didn’t evacuate and stayed in her Golden Gate home.
She received a dialysis session on Sunday, the day before Wilma made landfall, and had her next dialysis on Wednesday. By then, the center was off its generator and back on normal power.
“They assured us everything would be OK and prepared us,” she said. “I felt confident.”
She feels the same going into hurricane season now.
“Oh yes, I’m confident nothing will happen without reason,” she said. “I’m prepared.”
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