The Express: February 2022

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response

This issue of The Express highlights the following resources:

Please continue to access our Novel Coronavirus Resources Page, the National Institutes of Health Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines, and CDC’s Coronavirus webpage, and reach out if you need TA.

Healthcare Coalition Chemical Surge TTX Toolkit

The Healthcare Coalition Chemical Surge TTX Toolkit can be used by healthcare coalitions (HCCs) to enhance operational area awareness and capabilities to effectively address the needs of patients impacted by a chemical incident as part of a whole community emergency response framework. HCCs are not required to use this template, but it can be utilized to satisfy Funding Opportunity Announcement requirements for the Hospital Preparedness Program Cooperative Agreement. The template complements ASPR TRACIE’s Healthcare Coalition Chemical Emergency Surge Annex Template. For more information, access our CBRN and HCC resource pages.

Tools and Templates for Healthcare Coalitions

Looking for a tool or template you can tailor to your HCC’s needs? This tools and templates summary document includes links to ASPR TRACIE resources that can help coalitions plan for patient surge incidents and meet grant requirements.

Updated: Chemical Hazards Topic Collection

The resources in the Chemical Hazards Topic Collection can help emergency responders and healthcare workers identify chemical hazards and prepare for and respond to related incidents. Resources are grouped into categories such as “Chemical Countermeasures,” “Education and Training,” and “Plans, Tools, and Templates.”

Understanding and knowing one’s COVID-19 status is critical to receiving timely treatment. The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response oversees the fair and equitable allocation and distribution of COVID-19 therapeutics under Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA. The window for treatment eligibility for these products is less than 10 days from symptom onset. Join us for a webinar to discuss the current COVID-19 therapeutics landscape and the best practices for helping close the test to treatment gap. The webinar will take place Thursday, February 24, 2022, from 2:30-3:30 PM ET. Register today!

The headlines speak volumes, and they all lead to the same conclusion: violence in healthcare facilities presents a significant challenge to patients, providers, support staff, and visitors. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue in many ways. Many healthcare planners and executives are responding to the challenge by adjusting visiting hours, redesigning emergency departments, and outfitting staff with technology such as apps and panic buttons. The Joint Commission released new and revised workplace violence prevention standards which will apply to all accredited hospitals and critical access hospitals. This 60-minute webinar, scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, 2022, from 1:00-2:00 pm ET, will highlight these standards and the definition and use of risk assessment and de-escalation techniques to prevent violence against healthcare workers. Register today!

COVID Therapeutics Locator

ASPR TRACIE has received numerous requests from individuals who have been prescribed therapeutics as a prophylactic, but do not know how to locate them. We have been referring them to HHS’ COVID Therapeutics Locator, which allows users to locate public locations that have received shipments of U.S. Government-procured COVID-19 therapeutics under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) authority. The locations displayed in the locator have reported stock on hand within the last day.

New: ASPR Launches Refreshed Website

If you haven’t already, stop by ASPR’s updated website and check out their new layout and features. Once you’ve visited https://aspr.hhs.gov, update your bookmarks to their Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Flickr accounts, too!

The National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters will conduct a virtual inaugural public meeting on February 17, 2022. Following a swearing-in ceremony, the new advisory committee will highlight challenges, opportunities, and priorities for national public health and medical preparedness, response and recovery, specific to the needs of children and their families in disasters. Register today!

Registration for the Virtual Annual AHEPP Conference, to be held from March 1-15, 2022, is officially open! Please join ASPR TRACIE at these sessions:

COVID and Crisis Care: Ethical and Supply Considerations (March 10, 11:00-12:00 pm CT, 12:00-1:00 pm ET)
Supportive and Allied Healthcare Services: Vital Roles during COVID-19 and Beyond (March 15, 11:00-1:00 pm CT, 12:00 -2:00 pm ET)

Subscribe to the Division of Critical Infrastructure Protection’s Bulletins

ASPR’s Division of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) offers a variety of newsletters to keep stakeholders informed during emergency response and steady state. The newsletters inform stakeholders of the most significant issues facing the Healthcare and Public Health Sector including cybersecurity, healthcare supply chains, COVID-19, and more. If you are interested in receiving CIP newsletters, visit the CIP newsletter subscription webpage.

COVID-19 Clinical Rounds

Peer-to-Peer Virtual Communities of Practice, a collaborative effort between ASPR, the National Emerging Special Pathogen Training and Education Center (NETEC), and Project ECHO, hosts weekly training opportunities where clinicians from the U.S. and abroad who have experience treating patients with COVID-19 shared their challenges and successes. Access past sessions and sign up to receive updates.