National Special Needs Population Registry Beta Testing

National Special Needs Population Registry - Beta Test Underway

Center for Disaster Risk Policy at Florida State University is currently Beta Testing a new National Special Needs Population Registry in three southeastern states.

The registry’s design allows for registration of all individuals with special needs as defined by FEMA’s Planning Guide for Special Needs Populations

Designed to allow local disaster planning and response agencies to provide the highest level of assistance to special needs individuals through the latest in web based applications, the registry will allow users, at a minimum, to assign individuals to shelter locations and transportation routes, to generate route pickup maps for the transportation disadvantaged and to generate numerous (over 200) types of reports on the data contained within the registry.

For additional information please visit the following web site: http://www.spinreg.org

National Influenza Vaccination Week

December 8 – 14, 2008 is National Influenza Vaccination Week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the week of December 8-14, 2008, as National Influenza Vaccination Week. This week-long event is designed to raise awareness of the importance of continuing influenza (flu) vaccination, as well as foster greater use of flu vaccine in December, January, and beyond. Since flu activity typically does not peak until February or later, December and January still provide good opportunities to offer flu shots. This year, Thursday, December 11th, is designated as Seniors' Vaccination Day. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) needs your help to ensure that people with Medicare get their flu shots. Please use this week long event as an opportunity to place greater emphasis on flu prevention. If you have Medicare patients who have not yet received their annual flu shots, we ask that you encourage these patients to protect themselves from the seasonal flu and serious complications arising from the flu virus by recommending that they take advantage of the flu shot benefit covered by Medicare. And remember, health care professionals and their staff are also at risk for contracting and spreading the flu virus, so don’t forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect yourself, your patients, and your family and friends. Get Your Flu Shot -- Not the Flu!

NOTE: - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug.

For More Information
Health care professionals and their staff can learn more about Medicare’s coverage of the flu vaccine and other Medicare Part B covered vaccines and related provider education resources created by CMS, by reviewing Special Edition MLN Matters article SE0838 located at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE0838.pdf on the CMS website.

For more information about National Influenza Vaccination Week, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/

FDA: Innohep (tinzaparin sodium injection)

Innohep (tinzaparin sodium injection)

FDA has received information about the clinical study: Innohep in Renal Insufficiency Study (IRIS) that was stopped in February, 2008 by the study’s Data Safety Monitoring Committee because of an interim finding of an increase in all-cause mortality in patients who received Innohep. Information on the patients enrolled in the study, on the heparin used to manufacture Innohep, and on the heparin used in the study is still being collected and analyzed.

In July 2008, the company revised the prescribing information to restrict the use of Innohep in patients 90 years of age or older. FDA is concerned that the preliminary data from the IRIS study suggest that the increased risk of mortality is not limited only to patients 90 years of age or older. Therefore, FDA has requested that the company revise the labeling for Innohep to better describe the overall study results which suggest that, when compared to unfractionated heparin, Innohep increases the risk of death for elderly patients (i.e., 70 years of age and older) with renal insufficiency. Healthcare professionals should consider the use of alternative treatments to Innohep when treating elderly patients over 70 years of age with renal insufficiency and DVT, PE, or both. This communication is in keeping with FDA’s commitment to inform the public about its ongoing safety reviews of drugs. FDA anticipates submission of the final IRIS study report in January, 2009 and plans to complete its review soon thereafter. FDA will communicate its conclusions and any resulting recommendations to the public at that time. FDA will consider additional regulatory actions as appropriate after thorough review of all applicable data from the manufacturer of Innohep.

Read the complete MedWatch 2008 Safety summary, including a link to the FDA Communication, at: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#Innohep

Tule Fog

Tule FogCalifornia's Tule Fog season usually begins in November, after the first substantial rain and lasts until the end of March. Tule fog is a dense ground fog produced over land by the cooling of the lower atmosphere and is also known as radiation fog. Areas of dense fog can reduce visibility to less than 1/8 of a mile. Since the Central Valley of California has no air drainage other than mountain passes, day time heating or turbulent winds are required to break up the fog layer once it develops. Tule fog can be accompanied by drizzle and black ice. Accidents caused by Tule fog are the leading cause of weather related casualties in California. Examples of major accidents include:

December 1997 - 25 cars and 12 big rigs collided in fog near Elk Grove, south of Sacramento. 5 killed, 28 injured.
February 2002 - 80-plus car pileup on Hwy 99 near Kingsburg resulted in 2 killed.
November 2007 - a pileup involving 108 cars and 18 big rigs resulted in 2 deaths and 39 injuries.

During periods of dense fog the California Highway Patrol runs traffic breaks and pace cars on major highways to help slow traffic when visibility drops below 500 feet. Message signs provide information on changing conditions. (NOAA National Weather Service, FEMA Region IX)

CNN: An unusually destructive hurricane season ends

From Azadeh Ansari and Reynolds Wolf
CNN


(CNN) -- The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season ended Sunday, marking the finish of one of the busiest and costliest hurricane seasons ever.

The damage caused by this year's Atlantic hurricanes is estimated at $54 billion, according to the National Climatic Data Center. That's second in recorded history only to 2005, the year Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast. The total that year was an estimated $128 billion.

Government studies have noted that, when adjusted for inflation and other factors such as population density in coastal areas, some hurricane seasons from early last century could be seen as more expensive.

Still, the huge financial impact of this year's storms took their toll on an already-struggling economy.

It was the fourth busiest Atlantic hurricane year since 1944. The National Climatic Data Center said 2008 is "the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the north Atlantic."

The most destructive was Hurricane Ike. Its unstoppable force wiped out neighborhoods in parts of Texas. Even a week later, remnants of its impact were still being felt in the Great Lakes region.

Texas had earlier taken a beating from Hurricane Dolly, which battered South Padre Island with 100 mph winds, making it the worst storm to hit the island in more than three decades.

Hurricane Gustav was also responsible for much of the 2008 devastation, leaving crippled communities, businesses, and homes from Haiti to Louisiana. Hurricane Hanna, not long after, brought massive floods to Haiti, killing hundreds and leaving thousands helpless, homeless, and hungry, before churning its way toward North and South Carolina.

In all, there have been 16 named storms since the Atlantic hurricane season started on June 1. Eight were hurricanes, five of them major -- meaning Category 3 or higher. Three -- Dolly, Gustav, and Ike -- made landfall in the United States, though none was a major hurricane at the time of landfall.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/30/hurricane.season.ends/index.html