Community Outreach Network (CON)

Strategic Function: To establish a network of coordinated activities to provide access to public health services, health care, incident information and social services within a community affected by an emergency or disaster. 

Why: A coordinated systematic community outreach will help ensure that persons with disabilities, the elderly, and at-risk individuals populations, especially the home bound, have access to services from the health care delivery system and are provided basic life sustainment measures. Outreach could include such basic life sustainment services as:  the dissemination of public information and education; ensuring that food, water, medicine and other supplies are available; and the provision of triage and prophylaxis.

Who: The planning to establish a community outreach network of coordinated activities must include representatives from local emergency management, chief elected officials, public health, law enforcement, nonprofit agencies, state agencies, community health clinics and faith-based groups.  Community-based organizations such as American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Baptist Men, Meals on Wheels, local food banks, and community health councils play an integral role in community outreach.  State agencies such as the Department of Health, Human Services Department, Aging and Long-Term Services Department, and the Children, Youth and Families Department also have a role in community outreach activities  to ensure the continuity of services during an emergency or disaster. 

When: When traditional or usual access to essential services are affected by an emergency or disaster, a coordinated system or network of community outreach will help ensure a reasonable level of these services are provided to persons with disabilities, the elderly, and at-risk individuals populations, especially the home bound.

Where: A community outreach network plan is part of a local jurisdiction’s emergency operations plan.

• Planners should consider the exact tasks to assign to the outreach effort. Tasks will be determined by the nature of the emergency or disaster, for example, whether or not a communicable agent is involved, the need for augmenting or replacing services etc.
  
• The geographic, cultural, and social make-up of the community will greatly effect how the outreach program will operate and how many resources will be required.  For instance, it will require fewer resources to canvass a single apartment building than several individual houses or ranches in rural or frontier areas.
  
• There is an existing emergency response and recovery system within the community.  How will the activities and agencies identified in this plan work within that system?

• Who is at risk in your community?
• Where do they live?
• What essential services have the potential to be affected adversely by incidents resulting from known hazards and vulnerabilities within your community (snow storms, wild fires, etc).
• Who is responsible for implementing those essential services? *
• What community outreach network already exists to support the delivery of essential services?
• How will they be notified in disaster response and recovery?
• How will their services be coordinated in disaster response and recovery?
  
  

A sample tool for identifying who is responsible for maintaining essential services: 

 

 

 

Service	Responsible Agency(ies)	Support Organizations/Groups	Targeted Population
Food and water	American Red Cross, Human Services Department	Meals on Wheels, Salvation Army, Baptist Men, Local Food Banks, Faith-based groups, local emergency management, social services field offices	Those homebound or unable to access food
Medicine and Prophylaxis	Department of Health	Local emergency management, EMS, public health offices, local pharmacies	Those homebound or unable to access vital medicine or vaccines
Information	Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Department of Health	Local emergency management, public health offices	Community at large
Education/Risk Communication	Department of Health, Human Services Department	Public health offices, social service field offices	Those affected
Psychosocial Services (See Psychosocial Network Component)	Human Services Department, Department of Health	NM Crisis Support Team (DOH), Value Option contractors (HSD), American Red Cross, faith-based groups	Those affected
Triage	Department of Health	EMS	Those affected

Summary
Community outreach will be provided through the coordinated operation of a variety of public health, healthcare and social service organizations in the community affected by the incident. Coordinated systematic community outreach will help ensure that persons with disabilities, the elderly, and other vulnerable population, especially the home bound, have access to services from the health care delivery system and are provided basic life sustainment measures.

Support for Vulnerable Populations
Identify and describe potential vulnerable populations and how to provide support.

University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Tips for First Responders for People with Special Needs

Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic July 2007: Pediatric Services Tool

Orientation Manual for First Responders on the Evacuation of People with Disabilities

DHHS: Long-term Care and Other Residential Facilities Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist

Title II Checklist: ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments

University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Pandemic Planning Guide for Homeless Shelters

U.S. Department of Justice, Shelter Checklist - ADA Checklist for Emergency Shelters

June Isaacson Kailes Disability Policy Consultant - Disaster Resources for People with Disabilities and Emergency Managers

Protocols for Door to Door Canvassing
Protocol that describes a process for canvassing including documentation and safety precautions.
University of MInnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Neighbor to Neighbor Network (MO)

Quarantine and Isolation
Description of process to equip residences and other facilities with food, healthcare and other supports as necessary.
University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Homemade Personal Protective Equipment (PA)

Protocols Community Health Representatives (CHRs)
Protocol that describes the process CHR utilizes for conducting community outreach on the reservation.
University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Using Call Centers to Increase Surge Capacity: Projects HEALTH and HELP (CO)

Development of A Non-Emergency Communication Alternative
Development of alternative answering point/communication with community to potentially offload non-emergency calls from the local public safety dispatch center and hospital.
University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Using Call Centers to Increase Surge Capacity: Projects HEALTH and HELP (CO)

Process to Organize Community Outreach Network
Description of how to quickly assemble community outreach including who is involved and how to identify sectors that need to be reached.
University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Churches, ARC, Volunteer Neighborhood Network (MS)

University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Alternate Care Site Primer for Volunteers

University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Promotores for Pandemic Influenza (TX)

Patient Tracking

Other
University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Community Food Supply Outreach (WY)

University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Emergency and Community Health Outreach

Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic July 2007

University of Minnesota: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy - Pandemic Influenza Planning Kit for Community Organizations (GA)

Community Emergency Response Team

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