Respiratory Care


	Respiratory Care - Disaster Preparedness

	This and other pages on this web site provide information dedicated to helping the respiratory care community prepare for, and respond to emergencies and disasters.


	Disaster Preparedness and Response is an area where respiratory therapists are ideally suited to be at the frontline in or out of the hospital setting. All respiratory therapists viewing this site are urged to become actively involved in the disaster planning process not only in the hospitals they work in, but in their communities, and as individuals.


	If you are a respiratory therapist, you are urged to contact your state respiratory care society and get involved.


	AARC State Socieities


	AARC Respiratory Care Links


	You are also urged to get involved in your department's disaster planning process. Make your voice heard!


		Sign up to be on a local or national disaster response team. Links to the various federal medical response teams are located on the National Disaster Medical System page. To see information on other response efforts, go this page.

	If you are involved in disaster preparedness or response at the state or local level as a respiratory therapist, please send an email detailing what your state society is doing with regard to disaster preparedness, and it will be included in this section of this site.


	If you are a member of AARC, please make your voice heard by adding your name to the listserv for the AARC Disaster Response Roundtable. The more people that show an interest in this topic, the better our chances are of becoming an official AARC Committee.


	AARC Disaster Response Roundtable


	The AARC has issued a “guidance document” covering pandemic flu, mass casualty, and disaster planning. this is an important document every respiratory care professional should read. Click on the link below to view or download this document. You will need Adobe PDF Reader. See below.


	AARC Pandemic Flu, Mass Casualty, and Disaster Planning Resources


	The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) provides a web site specifically for the issue of pandemic flu. A wealth of information is available at that site. Click on the link below to go to that site.


	PandemicFlu.gov


	AvianFlu.gov

To get a free DVD on CBRNE training, entitled, "CBRNE: Emergency Preparedness for Healthcare Providers," send an email to CBRNE@emsa.ca.gov, and provide your name, occupation, address, telephone number, and number of copies desired. The back of the DVD states, "'CBRNE: Emergency Preparedness for Healthcare Providers" provides the basics of CBRNE training for all levels of healthcare providers. The curriculum was developed by healthcare providers across California with expertise and practice in preparing for CBRNE events." To get a free DVD on radiological and nuclear terrorism, entitled "Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism: Medical Response to Mass Casualties," available from CDC, email CDC at cdcinfo@cdc.gov. Include the title and all your information.

Respiratory care departments all over the country should now be fully involved in the disaster preparedness activities of their hospitals. Acquisition of a cache of ventilators, such as the ones being purchased by many states, and the necessary supplies to support them, would seem to be a very prudent move at this time, if they have not already been acquired. The companies which have the most suitable ventilators have said they will assist with training efforts








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It is essential respiratory care departments do all they can to facilitate readiness efforts being completed and then tested regularly. To see an example of how such efforts can mean the difference between a successful disaster response and a not so successful one, see “The Bronchus,” the official newsletter of the Minnesota Society for Respiratory Care, Fall 2007 issue, Vol. 31:3; “Emergency Preparedness Tested by 35W Bridge Collapse,” by Judy Hannigan, RCP, Director of Respiratory Care, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), p. 14.

The Fall 2007 issue of “The Bronchus,” can be viewed by clicking here.


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Respiratory Care - Disaster Preparedness