Key Activities

Cities Readiness Initiative:

• The PHP has been chosen as the coordinating entity for the CRI.
• The Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) is a pilot program to aid cities in increasing their capacity to deliver medicines and medical supplies during a large-scale public health emergency such as a bioterrorism attack or a nuclear accident. The Cities Readiness Initiative will help save lives through timely delivery of medicines and medical supplies during a large-scale public health emergency. It will enable cities to deliver medicines and medical supplies to their populations within a timeframe that will make an appreciable health difference in the event of a bioterrorism attack. The cities that have been chosen in our county are St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
• For more information on the CRI, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/cri/qa.asp.

Pandemic Influenza:

• The PHP coordinates the planning and educational efforts for the response to pandemic influenza for all of Pinellas County.
• The PHP monitors the situation of the Avian Influenza outbreak throughout the world, as well as other emerging infectious diseases.
• Plans, educational presentations, strategic meetings, and a Tabletop Exercise have all been accomplished this year. Contact the PHP for more information on educational presentations.
• For more information on pandemic influenza, including helpful planning tools for individuals, business, and health care facilities, visit www.pandemicflu.gov or www.avianflu.gov .
• For more information on planning specifically for employers, visit the following site by OSHA: http://www.osha.gov/Publications/influenza_pandemic.html .

Syndromic Surveillance:

• The PHP uses this surveillance to look for a slow-building bioterrorist attack or a trend in the health of the community.

FirstWatch^TM Surveillance:

• The PHP monitors the software program that utilizes real-time information from 911 calls compared to defined patterns to determine if an unusual situation is occurring in the community.
• Some of the problem codes that are monitored are: Abdominal Pain/Problems, Breathing Problems, Sick Person (Specific Diagnosis), Unconscious/Fainting, Unknown Problem/Man Down, Carbon Monoxide/Inhalation/HazMat, Standby HazMat Incident.

Food & Waterborne Illness Surveillance:

• All incoming food/ waterborne illness complaints are investigated to determine if a food/ water source is a possible danger to the health of the community or if a bioterrorist event using a gastrointestinal illness has occurred.
• Food safety inspections are completed in conjunction with the following community partners:
  • Department of Business and Professional Regulation
    http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/
  • Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
    www.doacs.state.fl.us/fs
• To report an illness due to food or water consumption, please call the Pinellas County Health Department at either (727) 507-4336 or (727) 824-6932.
• The following annual reports of foodborne surveillance activities are available for viewing:
  • 2004 Foodborne Illness Surveillance Program Annual Report
  • 2005 Foodborne Illness Surveillance Program Annual Report
  • 2006 Foodborne Illness Surveillance Program Annual Report
  • 2007 Foodborne Illness Surveillance Program Annual Report

HazMat Incident Surveillance:

• PHP personnel are alerted via pager whenever the HazMat Team is called out to investigate a possible bioterrorism incident. This allows for the tracking of the HazMat Team members in the event prophylaxis is warranted.
• The PHP may also be alerted in this manner if a health question is needed in the field.
• To view active Emergency Response calls: www.co.pinellas.fl.us/ces/ActCallsPub.htm

BioWatch:

• The PHP has worked on planning and preparedness for the BioWatch Program. The function of the BioWatch Program is to detect the release of pathogens into the air, which will then providing warning to the government and public health community of a potential bioterror event.
• Much about this program is protected under Department of Homeland Security rules.
• The system involves the installation of special paper filters on existing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air-quality monitoring stations. Plans call for removing each filter every day, taking it to a laboratory, and using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis to test it for pathogens that terrorists might use.

Biological Detection System (BDS):

• The PHP has worked on planning and preparedness for the Biological Detection System (BDS) Program for the United States Postal Service. The BDS system includes a hood, designed to suck in air particles, which will be installed on the current mail-processing equipment. Testing will be done hourly wherein air particles from the mail are placed in sterile water to make a liquid sample. The sample is then inserted into a cartridge for a DNA analysis. If the test is positive for anthrax, a horn will sound, and employees will be evacuated.
• The Health Department stores medication for the USPS employees in case of a positive Anthrax alarm.

Response Training and Exercises:

• Training may be provided in the following categories:

• NIMS: 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, & 800
• Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
• Surveillance & Epidemiology
• Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT)
• SNS Clinic/ POD Operations
• Pandemic, Avian, & Seasonal Flu
• Food Safety
• Hand Hygiene/Infection Control

• The PHP helps to coordinate exercises in Pinellas County, including the annual Mass Casualty Exercise, as well as providing evaluation for other events in the state. Staff has been trained in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).
• The Family Preparedness Guide is available in three languages, and the English version can be found at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/rw_webmaster/prepareenglish06.pdf.
• A Guide to Citizen Preparedness can be found at www.fema.gov/areyouready

Special Needs Shelters:

• In s. 381.0303, the Department of Health, through its county health departments, is the designated lead agency for coordination of the recruitment of health care practitioners, (as defined in s. 456.001(4)) , to staff special needs shelters in times of emergency or disaster and to provide resources to the department to carry out this responsibility.
• Agencies and organizations in the community have the responsibility to the special needs population and should have input into the design (addressing the four phases of emergency management - preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation), activation (pre-storm), operation (during storm) and deactivation (post-storm) of the Special Needs Shelter. These organizations and agencies include, but are not limited to the local Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Medical Services, American Red Cross, home care agencies, hospice organizations, extended care living facilities, oxygen and durable medical equipment providers and others.
• The three special needs shelters in Pinellas County are: John Hopkins Middle School, Oak Grove Middle School, and Dunedin Highlands Middle School.

Smallpox Response:

• Smallpox was feared for centuries because it caused serious illness, scarring, and in 30% of the cases, death. The last case of endemic smallpox was in Somalia in 1977 and the last case in the world was a laboratory-acquired infection in 1978. Smallpox is known to exist today only in laboratories in Moscow and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. However, there are fears that stocks of smallpox exist outside these laboratories and could be used during a terrorist attack.

  The goal of smallpox response is to identify, train, and vaccinate teams of professionals in Public Health, hospital healthcare settings and the first responder community. Individuals considering smallpox vaccination should be well informed about smallpox disease, the vaccine, and its side effects – including potentially life-threatening reactions. Information regarding smallpox can be accessed using the following link: www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/smallpox/.