NYDISnet

:: CDC to Award $30 Million for Treating Non-Responders' 9/11 Illnesses

On July 24, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced their plans to award up to $30 million dollars in funding to centers that will provide medical monitoring and treatment to individuals who lived and worked near Ground Zero but who were not first responders. This group of non-responders previously has not had access to federally-funded health care for their 9/11-related illnesses. NY Members of Congress, including Senator Clinton and Representative Nadler, have been advocating for this kind of legislation and are pleased that the government is beginning to hear their concerns.

Read the July 24 Reuters article: click here

:: FEMA Releases Draft of its National Disaster Housing Strategy

On July 21, the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released the draft of its National Disaster Housing Strategy, a document that describes the principles and strategies that guide the disaster housing process. It provides guidelines about how to engage all levels of government, as well as the private and non-profit sectors, in a disaster housing effort that will ensure individual and community needs are met efficiently. The National Disaster Housing Strategy also calls for the creation of a Disaster Housing Task Force, which will strategize and develop disaster housing plans. The 60-day comment period for the document began on July 23.

Read the press release from FEMA: click here

:: Gov. Paterson and Billy Crystal Appointed to 9/11 Memorial Board of Directors

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum Board of Directors recently appointed actor Billy Crystal as a Director on its Board and Governor David Paterson as an Honorary Trustee. Mayor Bloomberg serves as the Chair of the Board, which comprises 45 individuals, including community and corporate leaders, public officials, and family members of people who died on 9/11. Billy Crystal, a native New Yorker, expressed his conviction that the Memorial & Museum are “an opportunity to demonstrate New York’s strength and resolve, while ensuring that the memory of the lives lost are never forgotten.”

Read the July 17 press release: click here

:: WTC Site and 9/11 Memorial Construction Updates

On June 30, Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, released his assessment of the rebuilding effort at the World Trade Center site to Governor Paterson. While the Governor had requested a new schedule and cost estimate for completion of the site, Port Authority said that it cannot accurately predict those dates and numbers. Its report does stress that the project is making progress, even if it will not be completed by the previously-announced deadlines. In response to this news about the WTC site, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum released a statement assuring the public that it is feasible and imperative for the Memorial to open before the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

See Port Authority’s report: click here

Read the statement from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum: click here

:: Department of Health Releases Guidelines for Adults Exposed to the WTC Disaster

The New York City Department of Health has released Clinical Guidelines for Adults Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster. The guidelines outline possible types of exposure and their health effects, including the mental health issues that are common among people who directly were affected by 9/11. It briefly summarizes treatments for many of the physical health effects that people exposed to Ground Zero are suffering and offers information to help practitioners screen for mental illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disaster.

View the guidelines:
www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/chi/chi27-6.pdf

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From Our Members & Partners

NY Times Covers HSC Closure and Reductions in Disaster Funds

At the end of June, the Human Services Council of New York (HSC) suspended its Disaster Preparedness and Response Program due to lack of funding. On July 26, an article by April Dembosky titled, “Disasters Haven’t Abated but Cash Has, Groups Say,” appeared in the New York Times. The article offers observations by several agency executives on the funding crisis facing New York City disaster human services agencies, including NYDIS. Without increased governmental and philanthropic support, the City’s disaster agencies will continue to close or operate with greatly reduced programming as resources allow. Given the experience of 9/11 and the clear need for services, this will leave the City’s disaster human services agencies ill-prepared for future crises, and it will greatly reduce mitigation education and preparedness training for individuals and community leaders, thus decreasing the resilience of the entire city. Furthermore, critical functions provided by these agencies to support the City’s emergency planning efforts could be reduced or eliminated.

Read the article:
ww.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/nyregion/26disaster.html?ex=1217736000&en=6c410fabdd319b63&ei=5070&emc=eta1

UNITED SIKHS Provides Flood Relief in Iowa

UNITED SIKHS is collecting non-perishable food items and emergency supplies to send to Iowa for flood relief. Iowa City and Cedar Rapids are both recovering from extensive damage caused by the mid-June floods. Many families had to evacuate their homes and ended up losing their possessions as well. UNITED SIKHS volunteers have collected supplies to send to an Iowa Gurdwara, where additional volunteers will distribute them among local churches. UNITED SIKHS encourages people interested in contributing to the effort to mail supplies directly to Iowa. Monetary donations are also gladly accepted.

Read the press release:
www.unitedsikhs.org/PressReleases/PRSRLS-15-07-2008-00.html

Send supplies:
Iowa Sikh Association C/O Dilbagh Singh
1115 Walnut Street
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265.
Donate to the effort online:
www.unitedsikhs.org/donate.php

HSC Closes Disaster Preparedness and Response Program

At the end of June, the Human Services Council of New York (HSC) suspended its Disaster Preparedness and Response Program due to a lack of funding. This program has brought the City’s non-profit Human Service agencies together since 2004, when it took over the planning responsibilities of the 9/11 United Services Group, an organization that coordinated between agencies to maximize the effectiveness of their 9/11 response and to make services easily accessible to the people who needed them. In 2007, HSC drafted the Human Services Disaster Plan, an important preparedness document for efficiently managing the work of New York City disaster human services organizations. This plan encourages communication between agencies, provides a toll-free HelpLine, and offers financial assistance for unmet needs. It also led to the creation of a Disaster Recovery Assistance Fund that allows non-profits to begin offering assistance immediately after a disaster takes place.

Read the statement from HSC: click here

See HSC’s website:
www.humanservicescouncil.org

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ADVOCACY & BACKLASH MITIGATION

Sikh Coalition Organizes March to Protect Sikh Children

On June 30, over 300 Sikhs from across the country gathered in Queens to march through the streets of Richmond Hill in protest of recent hate crimes in New York City schools. In early June, two Sikh children were attacked in their schools because of their faith. One student was punched in the face after someone tried to remove his patka (smaller turban), while another student’s long hair was cut off. In response to these incidents, the Sikh Coaltion organized this civil rights march which ended at Richmond Hill High School, the site of the former attack. Their work has led the Department of Education to begin to respond to the bias that these children face in school by incorporating the Sikh Coalition’s recommendations into its regulations and educational materials about bias. The DOE also intends to expand its incident reporting system in order to better track incidents of bias.

Read the June 30 press release: click here

Read “Making Our Voices Heard: A Civil Rights Agenda for New York City Sikhs”: click here

Visit the Sikh Coalition’s website:
www.sikhcoalition.org

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Preparedness Initiatives

NYDIS Preparedness Resources
- About NYDISNET and NYDISNET Alerts
  
  NYDISnet is our bi-weekly e-newsletter, which provides updates about NYDIS’s work and other news concerning disaster readiness, response, and recovery initiatives in New York City. Please feel free to copy and distribute any information from NYDISnet that you find helpful. If you would like to distribute NYDISnet to your agency staff or faith community leaders, please let us know. During emergencies, NYDIS will send a NYDISnet ALERT to all subscribers. These alerts include all official information available through the NYC Office of Emergency Management and news from our members and partners.

Heat Preparedness
- NYC Department for the Aging Offers Free Air Conditioners to Seniors
  Heat waves kill more Americans each year than all other kinds of natural disaster combined. To reduce preventable heat-related deaths, the NYC Department for the Aging’s 2008 Cooling Assistance Program offers free air conditioners to seniors over the age of 60 who are at risk for heat-related illnesses. Eligibility requirements include living in a private home or apartment with at least one person who has an acute medical condition.
  
  For more information, guidelines, and an application: click here
  
  For information about heat-related morbidity and mortality: click here
- Extreme Heat Safety Tips
  The New York City Office of Emergency Management (NYC OEM) offers a list of important pointers for staying safe during periods of extreme heat. These tips include staying out of the sun, keeping living spaces well-ventilated, drinking lots of water, and looking out for neighbors, especially senior citizens. The resource also describes symptoms and basic treatments of common heat illnesses including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. In addition, it explains the health effects of exposure to ozone, a major component of smog. Children are especially vulnerable to these effects.
  
  Learn more about staying safe in the heat:
  http://nyc.gov/html/oem/html/hazards/heat_tips.shtml

Public Health Preparedness
- Human-to-Human Transmission of Bird Flu Suspected in China
  China’s National Disease Authority has confirmed that a man in China has been infected with the H5N1 strain of the influenza virus after his son died of the disease. This incidence has led to concerns about the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the virus. H5N1, an especially virulent and lethal strain of the virus that is found mostly in birds, could potentially pass quickly between people, even though it does not pass easily from birds to humans. So far, none of the 69 people who came in contact with the men who were infected have shown signs of the disease, a fact which suggests that even if the virus passed from son to father, it is likely not a highly contagious strain.
  
  Read the July 19 article:
  www.naturalnews.com/023664.html
- Positive Outlook for DNA Vaccine against Pandemic Flu
  Inovio Biomedical Corporation has announced the pre-clinical results from two DNA-based broad-spectrum vaccine candidates intended to protect against pandemic influenza. In laboratory tests, 100% of mice injected with the vaccines survived after being introduced to the H5N1 influenza virus. The mice showed only minor weight loss as a side effect. This kind of DNA-based vaccine varies from other vaccines because it can protect against multiple strains of the influenza virus. While strain-specific vaccines protect against single types of the influenza virus, broad-spectrum vaccines target parts of the virus’s genome that are more stable and less likely to mutate.
  
  Read the July 16 article in Business Wire: click here
- GAO Report: States Are Planning for a Medical Surge
  The Government Accountability Office released a June 2008 report concerning states’ ability to respond to an influx of patients needing care after a mass casualty. The report examines what states are doing to prepare, what the federal government is doing to help them prepare, and what concerns have arisen during the preparations. Most states have begun to plan for such a surge by following guidelines from the federal government and by using the federal money allocated to them. The report outlines the challenges and concerns that states face as they continue to meet the government’s guidelines about preparing for a surge. States have requested guidance about the critical issue of how to distribute scarce resources during an emergency.
  
  Read the June 2008 GAO Report:
  www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-668

Special Needs Preparedness
- Heat Safety for Special Needs Populations
  NYC OEM and the NYC Department for Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) have created a heat safety tip sheet for service providers who work with special needs populations. Risk factors for heat-related illnesses include being over the age of 65 or under the age of 4, having a medical condition such as diabetes or heart disease, and taking certain medications. The tip sheet outlines these and other risk factors. It offers ideas for preparing clients for periods of extreme heat as well as for reaching out to clients during such periods.
  
  Read the tip sheet:
  www.nydis.org/downloads/Heat_Tips_For_Special_Needs.pdf

Preparedness for Diverse Communities
- Emergency Preparedness Resources for Culturally Diverse Communities
  Developed by the Drexel University School of Public Health’s Center for Health Equality, the National Resource Center on Advancing Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities is the first online center designed to improve communication, advance preparedness efforts, and increase resilience among racially and ethnically diverse communities. It aims to eliminate disparities in the emergency preparedness and recovery capabilities of these communities through information-sharing and networking. The National Resource Center includes training curricula, research tools, public health emergency news, and translated materials. Its exceptional new e-newsletter provides subscribers with new resources, events, and updates concerning public health and emergency preparedness for diverse communities.
  
  Visit the National Resource Center:
  www.diversitypreparedness.org/
  
  Subscribe to the free e-newsletter:
  www.diversitypreparedness.org/Contact-Us/Diversity-Preparedness-E-Newsletter/61/

See NYDIS's Disaster Resource Library for more preparedness resources: www.nydis.org/resources/2db2.php

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We Recommend

Read the Article, “Be prepared for disasters"

In Kim Painter’s July 20 article in USA Today, titled “Be prepared for disasters,” she describes the lack of preparedness in America in 2008. In spite of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, as well as awareness of other recent disasters, most American households have no emergency kits or disaster plans. Painter recognizes the difficulties that Americans find with preparedness guidelines, such as the financial hardship of having to purchase respirators and face masks to prepare for pandemic flu, but she encourages taking inexpensive, quick, and important steps, like planning how families will contact each other in an emergency and locating the emergency supplies already in the home.

Read the article:
www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2008-07-20-your-health_N.htm

Read the Article, "Are You Ready for the Next Disaster?"

Eric Klinenberg, in his July 6 NY Times article titled, “Are You Ready for the Next Disaster?,” discusses the general ineffectiveness of emergency preparedness efforts throughout history. Even after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, most Americans do not concern themselves with household preparedness even as they lose confidence in the government’s ability to protect them. Klinenberg reports that after talking with New York City residents about why they do not prepare themselves for disasters, he learned that many people feel overwhelmed by the vast number of things that there are to worry about. Many shy away from the idea of a culture of preparedness because it appears to place fear at the center of their lives. Klinenberg concludes by suggesting that an important aspect of disaster preparedness is creating a feeling of community that makes people help their neighbors and trust that they would also be helped.

Read the July 6 NY Times article: click here

View Psycho-Social Risk Communications Resources

In June, the NY State Health Department hosted a series of Psycho-Social Risk Communications & Mass Mortality Workshops for Faith Leaders. With a focus on how to communicate in ways people will understand and remember during high-stress situations, the workshops featured experts who served in the risk communications field during such disasters as the Oklahoma City bombing, the 1998 shootings at Columbine High School, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina. The slides from the workshops are now available online.

View the resources from the workshops:
www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1533/216563/

If you have questions, contact:
Katie Schafer
360.756.8080
kschafer@piersystems.com

Visit the "Innovations in Effective Compassion" Website

Developed as part of the “Innovations in Effective Compassion” National Conference, held at the White House on June 26 and 27, this website provides viewers with research, evaluations, practical tools, and other resources related to the work of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Some examples of materials on the site include the “Targeting Human Needs Profiles,” which reflect the partnership between the government and non-profits to address pressing problems like homelessness, addiction, and AIDS.

Visit the site:
www.innovationincompassion.hhs.gov

Download Handouts from the National Conference on Animals in Disaster

The website of the Humane Society of the United States features a variety of handouts related to pet preparedness that were distributed at the National Conference on Animals Disaster, which took place June 3-6. The conference offered three tracks: Preparedness and Planning, Response, and Veterinary/Medical Issues. Handouts are available for all three tracks.

Go to: https://gateway.hsus.org/ncad/handouts/index.cfm
Password: humane

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Save The Date

Extreme Events III Conference at University of Albany School of Pubic Health

August 6
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
East Campus in Rensselaer, New York
University of Albany School of Public Health

The conference is being offered to faith-based and community leaders, community health centers, hospitals, first responders, policymakers, and researchers. Speakers will address the critical roles and responsibilities faith and community leaders must assume to assist the public in preparing both during and after extreme events, as well as how religious leaders should respond to the needs of the people traumatized by a disastrous event and how to re-build community strengths during emergencies.

For More Information or to Register (Required) Contact:
Colleen at 518.486.7921 or
www.ualbanycphp.org

6th Annual International Emergency Preparedness Symposium

September 10
8:30 am – 4:30 pm
32 Old Slip
Goldman Sachs Training Center

The New York Downtown Hospital is holding its 6th Annual International Emergency Preparedness Symposium to bring together specialists from across the country and world to share their experience and learn from other emergency preparedness professionals. This year’s topics include Response to Urban Construction Disasters, Medical and Public Health Readiness for Catastrophic Events, and Update on Health Status of 9/11 Workers. The conference also will explore emergency preparedness and response as they relate to recent events in China, Burma, and Iraq.

For more information: click here

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Job & Volunteer Opportunities

Emergency Response System Specialist, Visiting Nurse Service of New York

The Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) is looking to hire an individual with strong project management, organizational, communication, and presentation skills to help coordinate and implement their Emergency Response System. The job includes interaction with department heads, senior managers, and other critical staff in a multidisciplinary effort to support and develop ERS goals and projects. Other duties include coordinating and supporting departments in Business Continuity planning, creating and presenting training materials, and designing emergency drills.

For more information, read the job description: click here

Technical Writer for Contract Work, CUNY School of Professional Studies

The CUNY School of Professional Studies is collaborating with the NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to prepare training materials for NYC’s Coastal Storm Plan. They are seeking a technical writer who is able to translate emergency response plans into reader-friendly field guides. The contract will begin no later than the end of August.

For more information or to apply, contact:
Project Director
aboyarsky@gc.cuny.edu

NYDIS, AmeriCorps*VISTA Position

NYDIS’s AmeriCorps*VISTA program engages VISTA members at NYDIS and partnering sub-site agencies in capacity-building activities that enhance and expand disaster preparedness and recovery services for low-income communities. The ultimate goal is to build a culture of preparedness by increasing and improving faith-based disaster and emergency programs, thereby reducing the vulnerability of under-served, marginalized populations.

We currently are seeking a VISTA Leader who will support NYDIS’s VISTA program. A detailed position description is attached below.

VISTA Leader: click here

For more information, contact:
Amber Gibson
agibson@nydis.org

Government Disaster Human Services and Other Jobs
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/
- NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
  http://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/jd?ai=741&ji=2117117&sn=I
- NYC Office of Emergency Management (OEM)
  www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/abou/job.shtml

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Make a Gift to NYDIS

Support NYDIS - Donate Online

If you'd like to make a donation to assist NYDIS in its mission of providing faith-based disaster services, click here, or send a check to NYDIS at 22 Cortlandt Street, 20th Fl., New York, NY 10007. NYDIS is a 501(c)(3) corporation and contributions are 100% tax deductible. It is a great way to honor or memorialize someone and we will send an acknowledgement of your gift.

To donate online, go to the NYDIS homepage and click "Make a Donation":

www.nydis.org