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Communicable Disease
Preparedness Committee
Meeting Summary
Members Present: Katrina Doolittle, Leigh
DeRoos, Julie Weber, John Balog, Joe Palmer, Ruben Torrez, Stephen Lopez, Teresa
Burgin, Mary Jaspers, Teresa Keller for , Esperanza Villanueva Joyce, Nancy
Baptiste and Stephanie Roybal, Mike O’Larey, Nellie Quezada-Aragon, David
Pearse, Hugo Vilchis, Jeff Witte, Ruben Torrez for Lori McKee.
Guest: Billy Dictson, Director,
Biosecurity
Members Absent: Teresa Brobeck, Angela
Throneberry, Jose Gamon, Joe Palmer, Darrell Smith, Mary Benanti, Karl Hill,
Larry Olsen, Teresa Brobeck, Benjamin Diven, Gladys DeNecochea, Augustin Diaz,
Susan Grotevant, Larry Olsen, Larry Creider, Hugo Vilchis, Dario Silva, Michael
Abernethy, Angela Arvizo (for Scott Moore)
The meeting began at 3:06 PM.in Academic
Research C rm 110
- K. Doolittle noted receipt of 19 of 25
Departmental CoOPlans. K. Doolittle briefly reviewed progress and thanked
attendees for engaging in the business continuity and recovery planning
process. She also handed out the CDPC worksheet from 11/2/06 to remind members
of the tasks that we still have before us, with HR policy development,
education and funding being the big ones.
- K. Doolittle put on notice all departments
that have not submitted a CoOP. She also sent an email to Provost’s Office,
Business, Finance and Human Resources and University Communications to request
membership to represent those areas. N. Quezada-Aragon stated that OVPRGIS has
begun drafting a COOP for office operations, but must work with the respective
research areas (CAHE, A&S) in order to establish a plan for those areas.
- J. Balog & K. Doolittle reviewed
meeting of Training and Education Work Group noting that EH&S will be
establishing improved electronic training capabilities through use of CENTRA
to reach out locally and throughout the state. An example MS Powerpoint
presentation on Pandemic Influenza ( Communicable Disease Planning Awareness
for Dept Heads) was distributed as a starting point for review and comment by
the CDPC.
- Mary Jaspers noted that the Policy Work Group
has not met because other members -Gladys DeNecochea and Agustin Diaz – have
not been present. Katrina noted that organizational changes require new
members be appointed for those areas.
- For the Finance work group, K. Doolittle
requested that each department submit cost estimates to Lori McKee for those
consumables to be stockpiled for use during an outbreak.
- H. Vilchis introduced the Border Epidemiology
and Environmental Health Center, stating the Center, in conjunction with UNM
offers basic and advanced training in the practice of medicine during a
disaster.
- D. Pearse stated he was awarded a scholarship
grant to attend a workshop in Chicago on Sept 20-21 on “Crisis Communication
during a Pandemic” by the Society of Public Health Educators.
- J. Witte introduced Billy Dictson of the
Southwest Center for Border Safety and Biodefense. The Center conducts
training in Agricultural Biosecurity. He announced a 10 state exercise
involving an agricultural outbreak will be held this November. The center also
has animal disease sampling and detection kits available for distribution to
the agricultural community. J. Witte stated a NM Ag Dept goal to establish 4
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Response teams by November of this year. He
also stated the Dept will offer Incident Command System (NIMS 300 & 400)
training on-line this December. Katrina noted that the NMSU central
administration response team and emergency responders have had the basic NIMS
(IS 700).
- J. Wittee talked about the serious nature of
zoonotic infections and noted that the US Department of Health and Human
Services, through the CDC, has suspended all select agent research and funding
at Texas A&M due to a series of laboratory acquired infections of personnel
working with zoonotic pathogens.
- B. Dictson stated that an outbreak of an
animal disease at NMSU would be disastrous to university operations (teaching
and research) because the current response protocol is to suspend movement of
people and goods in a 2-mile radius until the outbreak is eradicated. He
highly recommended conducting a table-top exercise in response to just such an
event. Doolittle suggested a spring timetable which seemed reasonable. Witte.
J. Witte offered to screen a videotape of a culling exercise for the committee
either during or after the next meeting and also warned the committee of the
graphic content of the video. The offer was met with much interest.
- J. Webber reminded the committee that
residents of family housing units cannot “close & evacuate” as these dwellings
are their permanent residences. She also planned to review whether student
housing areas could be made available for use when those residences students
have been evacuated during a campus closure due to an outbreak.
- K. Doolittle will modify the task sheet to
reflect that not all students could be evacuated.
- The next CDPC meeting will be October 9, 2007
at 3:00 PM.
The meeting adjourned at 3:55PM.
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