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January 2006 HESP Newsletter
Volume 21, Number
1, January 2006
Meeting Notes
Meeting Announcement
Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Location: American Serbian Club on the South Side
Meeting Sponsor: Grainger - Mini Tradeshow Event
Speaker:Various vendors
Subject: Hospital Disaster Preparedness
Agenda
| Attitude Adjustment |
5:00 p.m. |
| Buffet |
6:00 p.m. |
| Host Presentation |
6:45 p.m. |
| Business Meeting |
7:30 p.m. |
Business Meeting Minutes
Call to Order: President-Elect, Dan Procupp, called the meeting to order at 6:43
P.M. Dan introduced our speaker for the evening, Frederick Peterson, Jr., MPH,
Director, Constituent Services for Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania.
Fred, who is the 911 chair of Health and Hospital Committee -- Region 13,
talked about hospital disaster preparedness.
Business Meeting: Dan called the meeting to order at 7:31 P.M. The minutes of
the December 2005 meeting were approved as printed. The attendance for this
evening's meeting was as follows: 21 hospital members; 27 associate members;
and 3 guests. The actual count was 58.
Treasurer's Report: Dick Barker -- Dick read the Treasurer's report. It was
approved as read. The 50/50 raffle was drawn. Steve Puryear of Forbes Road
Nursing won $86.00.
New Members: No new members were approved this evening.
Guests: Scott Fanlo, Trisonics, and Art Probola, Jr., introduced themselves.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Education: Michael Bryer -- No Report.
Newsletter: Ron Lukcic -- Ron mentioned that the next publication will have the
new ads and that February will be the deadline for corrections.
Codes and Regulations: Bill Brooks -- No Report.
ASHE: No Report.
Biomed: Dan Procupp -- No Report.
Membership: Brenda Henwood -- No report.
Holiday Party: Chuck Froetschel -- Chuck said to look for a synopsis of the
holiday awards party in next month's bulletin. Chuck said that we had 42
people attend and a good time was had by all! Thanks to all of the generous
contributions from our vendors and we will be looking for a new theme next
year.
Picnic: Bruce Saddler -- Bruce presented information on Washington Wild Things
games and said that openings for Friday or Saturday reservations are limited
and need to be reserved ASAP! A vote was taken and the membership preferred
doing it on a Saturday night. The open dates are June 17th or July 15th. Bruce
will see what is available.
Web Site/Marketing: Alice Hoffmaster (The Write Design) -- Alice said to look
for photos and videos with sound on the website. Employment ads and/or
articles of interest would also be appreciated.
Old Business: No Report.
New Business: Dan presented a Thank You card that was sent from Walt and Marion.
Adjournment: There being no further business, Dan adjourned the meeting at 8:41
P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Frank Rutledge, Secretary
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January's Meeting Sponsor
HESP extends its thanks and appreciation to Fred Peterson, Director of
Constituent Services at the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania and chair
of the Region 13 Health and Hospitals Emergency Planning Committee.
Fred Peterson, Director of Constituent Services at the Hospital Council of
Western Pennsylvania and chair of the Region 13 Health and Hospitals Emergency
Planning Committee provided an update on western Pennsylvania's disaster
response activities. As an introduction to his presentation, Mr. Peterson shared
with the group some "lessons learned" by the hospitals in the Gulf Coast region
that fell victim to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The storms that hit the Gulf Coast during the fall of 2005 were events that
completely disrupted the social order in portions of Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Mr. Peterson recently attended a briefing by
the hospital associations of these states and shared their first hand
experience.
The first lesson learned was that "electricity is king" as significant portions
of the states' grids came down. Facility generators provided short-term relief
until they began to fail due to flooding of lower levels of buildings, lack of
fuel and overheating since no water was available for chillers. Even when
generators worked, hospitals discovered that some of their key systems had not
been connected to back up circuits as facilities grew or were renovated over the
years.
Even it hospitals that did not suffer direct storm damage, generator failures
led to HVAC failures which then led to widespread mold growth in the high
humidity. Having a pre-connect on the outside of the building was deemed
necessary to hook up portable generating systems since electricians were often
difficult to find to do just-in-time work.
As the infrastructures of the communities began to collapse, hospitals became
the centers of peoples' lives whether or not they were ill or injured. Hospitals
often became the only place in town where someone could get a decent meal and a
shower. Parts of hospitals were converted to dormitories to house employees and
their families. This strategy was necessary not only to keep key personnel
available, but also to overcome problems of curfews and travel restrictions as
well as a lack of fuel for automobile travel.
Finally, Mr. Peterson outlined some of the challenges that healthcare facilities
are facing as they begin to come back on line, needing to meet a variety of
codes and criteria including state departments of health and the Joint
Commission as well as NFPA and BOCA requirements.
The presentation concluded with an overview of resources and systems available
in western Pennsylvania to respond to socially disruptive events. He encouraged
all in attendance to review and update their emergency management plans and to
become trained in the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System, stressing the
important role that facilities personnel play in an organization's response.
Mr. Peterson can be reached in Warrendale at petersof@hcwp.org or 724/772-9116.
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Calendar of Events for Upcoming Sponsors
March: Deckman Company
Topic: To Be Announced
If you would
like to be a meeting sponsor in 2006,
please contact Dan
Procupp .
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HOLIDAY PARTY
A snapshot of the HESP Holiday Party on 12/9/05
Fun and frivolity started at 6:30 P.M. Each member / guest received a ticket for
a free drink, served by our favorite "spirits dispensers," Walt and Marion
(Special Note: This was the last time they will be serving HESP members). They
are retiring after this.
Some Highlights:
- Forty (40) members and their quests attended and enjoyed the music and the
Games at Monte Carlo Night.
- Rick Tieren, Beckwith, and his wife seemed to be the big winners, both at
the tables and the door prizes. Too bad it wasn't real money!
- Duane & Kerry served another great meal. Thank you!
- One of the night's highlights had to be President-Elect Dan Procupp singing "Frosty The Snowman" in Jimmy Durante's voice. Pictures and a tape have
been recorded. We hope Dan has a "Greatest Hits Album." Maybe we will be
seeing him on the infomercials selling his tapes for $19.95. Obviously, all
proceeds would be donated to HESP.
- Door prize contributors were: Grainger, Automated Entrance, Chemway,
Amerinet Central, EMS, Bob English, Filtech, Inc., Intelligent Electrical
Systems, Biotronics, Mark Lantz, Beckwith, Tyco, ServiceMaster, and A. G.
Mauro.
- The HESP Officers received awards for their service during 2005.
Finally, we are looking for ideas for next year. Personally, a change of theme
and location might be the "in the cards."
Respectfully submitted,
Chuck Froetschel
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