Outsourcing: New Hanover County’s Successful Community Effort Special Needs Plan

1. Outsourcing: New Hanover County’s Successful Community Effort Special Needs Plan Warren Lee New Hanover County Emergency Management Director Jane Jones Cape Fear Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging Director Kristen Wingenroth New Hanover County Emergency Management Ben Brow New Hanover County Department of Aging, Special Needs Registry

2. History & Issues Identified Hurricanes Bertha & Fran 1996 • Findings: • Hospital inundated with individuals seeking shelter • County EOC, 911, Hospital EOC were overwhelmed with special needs calls • Lack of coordinated effort among community agencies serving those with special needs

3. How to Meet the Challenge —A Community Approach • Special Needs Task Force formed by Emergency Management in 1997 • A multi-disciplinary, multi-agency approach to utilize community resources

4. Special Needs Task Force The Special Needs Task Force is composed of health & human service agencies in New Hanover County who volunteer their time to develop plans and try to anticipate and eliminate problems that may occur. The Task Force has been meeting every 4-6 weeks since 1997.

5. New Hanover County’s Special Needs Disaster Plan outsourcesspecial needs individuals to participating healthcare facilities instead of utilizing a mass special needs shelter.

6. Outsourcing IC-3

7. NEW HANOVER COUNTY’S • SPECIAL NEEDS PLAN • IDENTIFY • EDUCATE • EVACUATE • RELOCATE

8. IDENTIFY Community Outreach Special Needs Registry Medical/Home Health Care Community Emergency Public Information Center

9. EDUCATE Health and Human Services Providers work one-on-one with their clients and help them prepare a personal disaster plan. Trained volunteers call registrants twice a year to update their information and review personal disaster plans. Media Outreach

10. EVACUATE All at-risk individuals are encouraged to evacuate if at all possible as infrastructure damage, loss of communication, and overwhelmed emergency services may prohibit a timely response or restoration of life supporting electric power.

11. RELOCATE Reserved for highest risk individuals whose personal disaster plan has failed and left them in danger, and is limited by the number of available beds in participating nursing and adult care facilities. A caregiver must accompany the individual to the relocation site and remain with them for the duration of the event.

12. In 1998, New Hanover County’s Special Needs Task Force sought legislation to enable health care facilities to participate in sheltering efforts.

13. Long Term Care Facilities • LTC Facility cooperation is an integral part of the plan • Benefits to LTC Facilities • Training • Preparedness Planning

14. SPECIAL NEEDS REGISTRY The Registry is comprised of individuals who live in New Hanover County and have special needs that would place them at higher risk in an emergency event.

15. Activation • Directed by EM • Pre-event Call-Down • IC-3 Activation • SN Profiles to IC-3

16. THE INDIVIDUAL CARE COORDINATION CENTER - IC-3 The IC-3 is the emergency operations center that is activated at the request of the Director of Emergency Management in the event of a threatened event, to coordinate the resources made available by the participating agencies. The IC-3 is located at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

17. 70 + Participating Agencies • NHC EM, Social Services, Health, Aging, Animal Control • Hospitals • Home Health Care Agencies • Nursing and Adult Care Homes • Mental Health • Cape Fear COG Area Agency on Aging • Oxygen Vendors • Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services, Blind Services • Hospice • WAVE Transit

18. ACTIVATIONS • BONNIE August 1998 • DENNIS August 1999 • FLOYD September 1999 • IRENE October 1999 • ISABEL September 2003 • CHARLEY August 2004 • OPHELIA September 2005 • HANNA September 2008

19. The Special Needs Task Force Actively Serving New Hanover County Since 1997