Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) serves 1.2 million of 9.9 million Michigan residents. Oakland County is located northwest of the Detroit metropolitan area and is the second largest county in Michigan. As of 2015, the median age in Oakland County is 40.8 years old with roughly 15% (179,188) of the population age 65 years or older. The median income is $67,465 with 10.1% of individuals living below the poverty level. Oakland County's populations consists of 76.3% white, 13.9% black or African American, 6.3% Asian, and 3.7% is Hispanic or Latino individuals.
In January of 2017, Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) targeted long term care facilities and implemented Oakland County's Emergency Preparedness Best Practices Program for Healthcare Partners. This program recognized national emergency preparedness (EP) requirements as best practices and provided support through educational and training opportunities for healthcare partners to meet the requirements. Throughout 2017, both OCHD and Oakland County Homeland Security Division (OCHSD) received numerous phone calls from other types of healthcare providers seeking assistance in EP planning. OCHD recognized that overall community preparedness begins with healthcare provider readiness. OCHD took the initiative originally designed for long term care facilities a step further and expanded it to include all healthcare providers.
OCHD quickly recognized that EP planning and training were new concepts to many local healthcare organizations. Large healthcare organizations such as hospitals, have had significant experience with creating plans and conducting drills, while smaller organizations such as home health care, hospice, and long-term care facilities did not have the resources or staff to implement quality emergency plans and staff trainings. Oakland County Health Division took a proactive approach to implement a program to provide education, trainings and collaboration opportunities to improve planning and preparedness among local healthcare providers. This program was planned in direct correlation with national emergency preparedness standards thus supporting providers in meeting their emergency preparedness requirements.
At the time of program expansion, the goals, objectives, and title of the program were updated. The overarching goal for this new program was to build resilient communities by providing support to healthcare providers impacted by national regulations. The program name was changed to Oakland County's Emergency Preparedness Resilience in Healthcare Program. The objectives for this program included the development of sustainable resources and trainings, to assist healthcare providers in meeting their emergency preparedness requirements, and to build and establish emergency preparedness relationships among healthcare providers in Oakland County and beyond.
Beginning in 2018, OCHD provided six trainings to healthcare facilities at no cost to attendees. The trainings offered were provided by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Biomedical Research and Training (NCBRT), Trainings & Treatment Innovations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations. These trainings provided information about Mental Health First Aid, Biological Incidents Awareness, Chemical Response, Community Healthcare Planning and Response to Disasters, the Incident Command System, and Cyber Security.
Throughout 2018, OCHD facilitated 14 meetings, one tabletop exercise workshop, one webinar, and two full day emergency preparedness symposiums. The tabletop exercise workshop provided education and materials for facilities to exercise their emergency plans independently. The exercise materials were also made available electronically on the OCHD website. The full day symposiums brought together local emergency management, emergency preparedness, environmental health, representatives from the State of Michigan, and the Region 2 North Healthcare Coalition (R2N) to discuss EP planning. An Emergency Preparedness Toolkit was developed and provided to all participants at the symposiums. Toolkit materials were also made available electronically on the OCHD website. In all, this program was considered successful as 350 healthcare workers representing over 150 facilities and organizations in Oakland County attended the 24 events held in 2018. OCHD received feedback from two health care facilities that directly attributed the success of meeting their emergency preparedness requirements to the trainings and partnerships provided through this program.
https://www.oakgov.com/health/services/Pages/Emergency-Preparedness.aspx