Friday, May 23, 2008

KCER Exercise: July 17

The Kidney Community Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition requests that you save the date July 17, 2008 to participate in the 2008 disaster exercise.

Disaster exercises, sometimes called drills, are focused practice activities that place participants into a simulated situation which requires them to function in the capacity that would be expected of them in a real event. Its purpose is to promote preparedness by testing policies and plans and training personnel. Exercises are conducted to evaluate an organization’s capability to execute one or more portions of its response plan.

The 2008 KCER Exercise is a functional exercise (FE) designed to evaluate and validate organization and staff capabilities. This activity will focus on exercising the plans, policies, procedures, and staff. Exercise participants should be able to demonstrate the capacity to execute their disaster plans, communicate with staff and other key players, and participate in a coordinated response effort.

KCER staff and Response Teams will execute the drill on Thursday, July 17 from 12-4pm EST. KCER staff will lead the exercise, hold actual conference calls with Team Leaders/key decision makers and send real-time emails to the participants regarding the "disaster" situation.

Registration is required for all KCER members wishing to participate in the exercise. Only those registered will receive player handbooks, dial-in information for teleconferences, email notifications, and materials.

To maintain reality in the disaster scenario, the materials will not be sent out to participants until the day before the exercise. ESRD Networks and local disaster coalitions are welcome to observe/participate and/or use the materials for their own exercises/drills.

An exercise debriefing conference call will be Friday, July 18. This is not required, but everyone who registered is encouraged to give feedback on his or her experience.

For more information about this activity, visit www.kcercoalition.com/drills.htm.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Disaster Preparedness Videos

We have received a number of requests for disaster preparedness videos. Here is a list of online and free videos covering general preparedness, special needs, pets, safety, hurricanes, earthquakes, and pandemics.


http://www.ready.gov/america/about/instructional.html (general)

http://www.soph.uab.edu/scphp/default.aspx?ID=724 (general)

http://www.utbtsc.edu/safety/video/welcome.html (hurricanes)

http://floridadisaster.org/index.asp and click on the "Media Center" near the top righthand corner (hurricanes)

http://wsfltv.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/wsfl-hurricane-tips,0,3896722.htmlstory?coll=wbzl-home-nav (hurricanes, general)

http://www.cepintdi.org/default.aspx?pageid=174 (Click on "Being Prepared" and then scroll to "Emergency Preparedness Video") for the deaf and hard of hearing.

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/psa.asp (hurricanes, general)

http://www.emd.wa.gov/publications/pub_index.shtml scroll through for videos (*earthquake) ** There are also PDF documents of a family emergency plan in English, Amharic, Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Farsi, Ilocano, Korean, Laotian, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Somaly, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrigna, Ukranian, and Vietnamese.

http://www.nwcn.com/sharedcontent/features/flash/quake/during.html (earthquake)

http://www.sanmiguelcounty.org/portal/page?_pageid=118,148583&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL (pandemics)

http://a1881.g.akamai.net/7/1881/26640/v0001/redcross.download.akamai.com/26640/psa/movie/PandemicFlu/PF_Video1.html (pandemics)

http://readymontco.montcopa.org/readymontco/cwp/view,A,1553,Q,64828.asp (pandemics)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Florida Wildfires

The Kidney Community Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition is currently monitoring the wildfire situation in Florida.

If you are in the impacted area, it is vital to listen and obey your local officials' emergency orders. Most importantly, evacuate if you are told to do so. For individuals with kidney failure, remember to take your medicines, medical records, supplies, food, and insurance information. Call your dialysis clinic and tell them that you had to evacuate and tell them where you are staying.

Wildfires can also cause problems even if you are not in the impacted area. Smoke can reduce visibility on roads which can cause traffic accidents or close important roads. Make sure you know alternate routes to reach your dialysis facility, pharmacy, or family member's home.

The wildfire smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your nose/throat/lungs, and can worsen illness. If you have respiratory problems, try to stay indoors away from the smoke. For more information, visit the Wildfire Smoke Health and Safety page from the Arkansas Division of Air Quality.

For information about wildfire safety, visit the American Red Cross site http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_594_,00.html

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Collaborating with Emergency Management

The KCER Coalition is excited to exhibit a booth at upcoming emergency management conferences.

Please stop by the KCER booth at the New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Conference. This year's keynote speaker is former FEMA director James Lee Witt. The meeting will be held at the Tropicana Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey on May 5th thru 9th, 2008.

Also, the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference will be held May 12-16 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Stop by the KCER booth number 704 for education and information. Do you know how many dialysis and kidney transplant patients there are in your county? Do you know their special needs? Come find out!

For more information on these meetings, please visit

New Jersey Emergency Preparedness Association
http://www.njepa.org/

Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference
http://flghc.org/