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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response

This issue of The Express highlights the following new and updated resources:

• Biological Incidents (New Chapter in Hospital Readiness and Response: An Online Guidebook)
• Ophthalmology in Disaster Planning and Public Health Emergencies (New Speaker Series Recording)
• Mass Gatherings/Special Events Topic Collection (Updated)
• Pre-Hospital Mass Casualty Triage and Trauma Care Topic Collection (Updated)
• The HHS emPOWER Program

Summertime means warm temperatures, and time to check on your plans for dealing with hot weather. Our Natural Disasters Topic Collection includes lessons learned and plans, tools, and templates that can help. The article Extreme Heat Events: Lessons from Seattle's Record-Breaking Summers features how lessons learned during the 2021 heat dome event combined with robust regional and local collaboration facilitated connections during the heat wave in the summer of 2022. As always, reach out to us if you need technical assistance. 

Biological Incidents (New Chapter in Hospital Readiness and Response: An Online Guidebook)

Biological incidents requiring an emergency management response span a wide range of impacts and scenarios. The Biological Incidents chapter reviews the hierarchy of controls and the identify, isolate, inform framework, and details some considerations for epidemics and pandemics, special pathogens, and bioterrorism. Check out the rest of the chapters of the Hospital Readiness and Response Online Guidebook today!  

Ophthalmology in Disaster Planning and Public Health Emergencies (New Speaker Series Recording)

Eye injuries are often overlooked by disaster planners, yet they can occur from flying debris, chemical spills, and due to exposure to contaminated water or debris. A distinguished panel of ophthalmologists discuss the societal burden of ophthalmic trauma (and related courses and resources); eye injuries and conditions in disasters; and lessons on ophthalmology disaster preparedness from the military in the Ophthalmology in Disaster Planning and Public Health Emergencies speaker series recording. Access the rest of the speaker series for more lessons learned! 

Mass Gatherings/Special Events Topic Collection (Updated) 

The recently updated Mass Gatherings/Special Events Topic Collection includes lessons learned from sporting, religious, political, and musical events; case studies; research; and plans, tools, and templates designed to help emergency medical staff create robust plans for mass critical care before an incident strikes their jurisdiction. 

Pre-Hospital Mass Casualty Triage and Trauma Care Topic Collection (Updated) 

The resources in the Pre-Hospital Mass Casualty Triage and Trauma Care Topic Collection can help emergency planners understand the basics of field triage and learn about how preparing for mass casualty events helped responders perform trauma care and triage effectively in response to recent critical incidents.

HHS emPOWER Program: Mitigating Health Care System Surge and Advancing Risk-Based Health Care Readiness 

The HHS emPOWER Program and HHS emPOWER Map helps public health authorities and their partners to mitigate health care system surge, protect the health of millions of at-risk individuals that rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment and devices and certain health care services (e.g., dialysis, home oxygen), and supports outreach during emergencies and disasters nationwide. Check out the HHS emPOWER Program Platform to learn more about emPOWER-in-action and the program’s suite of data, mapping, data layers, training, informational resources, and its artificial intelligence tool. For program inquiries, please contact HHS emPOWER Support (empower@hhs.gov).