Forging Connections

The College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity is hosting a health emergency conference of the Health Care Association of New York State.

ALBANY, N.Y. (November 3, 2016) — Part of the mission of the new College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) is to develop partnerships with a wide array of emergency response and management organizations that impact all levels of society.

On November 10, the College will demonstrate one of these collaborations when it hosts the Home Care Association (HCA) of New York State for their “Local Health Emergency Preparedness Collaboration Session.” The event which will be held on the Downtown Campus at Husted Hall 204 will bring together home care agencies and county emergency managers from Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Columbia counties to network and exchange information and resources.

“These partnerships allow the College to draw from the expertise of a range of disciplines, create relevant academic programming, set a research agenda informed by input from the state and other public, private and non-profit organizations, and minimize duplication by integrating existing academic and training offerings into the College’s programs,” said David Rousseau, interim dean, CEHC.

Nearly a dozen CEHC students will participate in the discussion as well. Their time will count toward their 100 hour training requirement for the completion of the major in emergency preparedness, homeland security and cybersecurity.

HCA is an advocacy and public policy organization that represents home health care providers throughout the state. It also serves as a collaborating partner to the State Health Department’s Office of Health Emergency Preparedness. HCA works with the state associations representing the continuum of care such as hospitals, nursing homes and clinics for state, federal and regional emergency preparedness planning and response.

“A major effort for HCA this year is to bring together home health agencies, emergency managers and public health department emergency staff for relationship building and mutual understanding of roles serving vulnerable patients in the community,” explained Al Cardillo, executive vice president, HCA.

In the case of home care, the challenges for emergency preparedness are especially great, because of the volume, diversity and increasing complexity and acuity of patients receiving care at home, combined with the relatively limited understanding of home care outside professionals in the field proper.

“Home care patients include the elderly, chronically ill and persons with disabilities. In some cases, these patients rely on electricity for home medical equipment, such as ventilators, or refrigeration for insulin supplies if they are diabetic. When an emergency strikes – such as a severe weather event that knocks out electricity or transportation access – home care providers communicate with emergency managers to reach vulnerable patients needing evacuation assistance or additional supports at home to remain safe,” said Cardillo.

“We greatly appreciate this opportunity for our association to partner with the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity as the host for this important session so that the lines of communication and mutual planning are as strong as possible.”

For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds