WHO WE ARE

Established in July 2017, Service Area 1C HERC members collaborate amongst each other to include but not limited to Public Health Departments, Hospitals, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and Emergency Management Agencies (EMA). This helps to achieve a robustly prepared healthcare infrastructure by sharing work plans, sharing hazard vulnerability assessments (HVA) to identify common gaps, increased communication to create a common operating picture, and coordination of trainings and exercises to reduce duplication of efforts.

MISSION 

 The mission of Service Area 1C Healthcare Emergency Response Coalition (SA1C HERC) is to prepare for, respond to and recover from crisis using all available resources to provide patient care at the appropriate level in the most efficient manner for the best patient outcomes.

CHECK IT OUT! 

SA1C Coordinators host a yearly spring Preparedness & EMS conference with free continuing education credits for our EMS and Nursing members.

WEBSITE

  https://servicearea1c.com/ 

Iowa SA1C 

In the south-central part of Iowa, you will find the city of Knoxville, home base to Service Area 1C (SA 1C), one of Iowa’s eight service area health care coalitions (HCC). Iowa’s Service Area 1C serves 11 counties, encompassing 12 critical access hospitals, 11 public health departments, 37 EMS agencies, and 8 emergency management agencies. SA1C PHEP Coordinator Stacy Haas, EMS Coordinator Teri Van Kooten  & HPP Coordinator Rae King are all housed at Marion County Public Health and work as a team to complete workplans across disciplines. The successes of Service Area 1C are due to their strategic alliance and their partnership with the R7DHRE. 

Last year, while working on the radiation annex for SA 1C, Rae reached out to Angela Leek (co-lead of the R7DHRE Radiation Specialty Team) for assistance. Rae, Stacy, and Angela worked together to complete the radiation annex for SA 1C, building off a framework Angela had created as a resource for HCCs throughout Region 7. In addition, Rae, Stacy, Angela, and Scott Wendt, the Radiation Safety manager at Iowa State University Environmental Health and Safety, were able to work together on creating a scenario for a radiation exercise held on May 18, 2023, by SA 1C & Scott Wendt to test their now completed radiation annex. 

Rae has also stated that having access to resources like the DASH tool, R7DHRE Specialty Teams, Preparedness Webinar Series, and other course offerings has been invaluable. Last November, Rae, Stacy, and Teri were all able to attend the R7DHRE HCC Conference held in Kansas City, which they found valuable as it created a space to bring all the players to the table and share ideas and processes. 

When asked about the impact that partnering with the R7DHRE has had on SA 1C, Rae said, “I believe the R7DHRE is an instrumental tool for the HPP program because of the leadership and guidance you offer.” 

Looking to the future, Rae would like to see the R7DHRE continue with things like the regional HCC conference due to its networking and information sharing benefits. She also suggests that the R7DHRE continue to disseminate information and resources that can help to fill any gaps in the preparedness efforts of SA 1C. Rae believes that just because her service area may not be the biggest, they are mighty, and thanks the R7DHRE for helping her show just how mighty a rural service area can be. 

Medication-Related Considerations During National Disasters 

Krysta Baack, PharmD, BCPS, BCEMP 

Always being prepared for any type of disaster is vitally important. One area of preparedness one must consider is regarding medications: storage, stocking, and drug selection/availability for treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis, as well as available healthcare provider resources. Depending on what type of disaster you are preparing for, medication-related considerations may vary.       

• Medical Management of Chemical Exposures 

• The National Infection Control Strengthening (NICS) team recently launched their  "Behind the Mask" Webinar Series. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the University Nebraska Medical Center, in partnership with Nebraska Medicine, NICS was selected as an innovation partner as part of Project Firstline with a focus on strengthening infection prevention and control programs in healthcare facilities in underserved areas to develop innovative programs, services, and product development strategies to strengthen IPC nationally and globally. To learn more about their upcoming webinars and to view their most recent one, click the button below. 

• On February 13th, R7DHRE held a preparedness webinar titled "Disaster Gap: The Smallest (Biggest) Interval You've Never Heard Of". This webinar differentiated spontaneous responders from both bystanders and first responders, served as a call to arms to change how we teach about disasters, and suggested ways to change how we construct After Action Reports. The webinar 1. Discussed the significance of the gap between the moment of an incident and the arrival of first responders. 2. Described the meaning of the term “disaster gap” as it relates to major emergency incidents and identify at least 3 types of disaster gaps. 3. Evaluated viewers' own personal level of preparedness and what actionable steps could be implemented to close a disaster gap.