Marion Scripts  Training exercise tests preparedness

Marion Scripts May 1, 2014
Keeping Marion County residents informed on today’s health issues Training
exercise tests
preparedness
Health department closes to
practice for public health
emergency response
The Florida Department of Health in
Marion County works to protect,
promote and improve the health of all
people in the community.
Department of Health staff members practice running a point of dispensing site during a 2008
training exercise. The training was put to use when the Department set up flu shot dispensing
sites during the 2009 H1N1 flu strain pandemic.
Calendar
May 1 Health department
closed for training
May 5 Safe Kids Marion
meeting
May 7 Child Safety Seat
Class at Ocala Police
Department
May 7 Dunnellon Middle
School Immunization
Outreach
May 7 WIC Mom & Baby Club
meeting
May 7 Children's Alliance
meeting at Sheriff’s Office
May 8 Lake Weir Middle
School Immunization
Outreach
May 10 Passport to Health
community health fair
May 13 Horizon Academy
Immunization Outreach
That work can extend beyond the
Department’s day-to-day routine when a
disease outbreak, natural disaster, or
even a terrorist attack takes place.
The Department is holding a major
training exercise today so staff members will be ready to respond.
Offices will return to their normal schedules on Friday.
The training exercise will simulate a release of anthrax in the
community. The Department will set up a point of dispensing, or POD
site at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion. Department staff and
Marion County Medical Reserve Corps volunteers will work to dispense
lifesaving medications to as many people as possible, as quickly as
possible.
Department staff members who are not assigned as POD workers will
act as members of the public who are coming to the site for medications.
Some of the actors will pretend to be ill, testing the team’s ability to
recognize and triage people as they arrive.
“We need to practice our response if we want to be ready when a public
health emergency happens,” said Randy Ming, emergency planner for
the Florida Department of Health in Marion County. “Our annual
exercises help keep our skills sharp, and show us areas where we can
improve.”
In May 2013, the Department of Health in Marion County held a
special needs shelter training exercise. That exercise tested the
Department’s ability to set up a shelter for people who have special
medical needs during a hurricane or other emergency.
“Whether the emergency is a storm, a disease outbreak, or an attack on
public health, we want to be ready,” said Cheryl Brown, acting health
officer at the Florida Department of Health in Marion County.
“Residents and visitors in Marion County can be confident that the
Department of Health is trained and ready to respond when the need
arises.”
Marion Scripts
2 May 1, 2014
Mosquito season arrives
Marion County horse tests positive for Eastern
equine encephalitis. Community should take
precautions against mosquito-borne illnesses
Florida’s warm wet summers are friendly to mosquitoes, and spring has
been wet enough this year to get the bugs started early. A horse in the
Sparr area tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis infection, so
the Florida Department of Health in Marion County last week advised
residents that there has been an increase in mosquito-borne disease
activity in areas of Marion County.
The Department reminds residents and visitors to avoid being bitten by
mosquitoes and to take basic precautions to help limit exposure.
To protect yourself from mosquitoes, remember to “Drain and Cover”:
DRAIN standing water to stop mosquitoes from multiplying.
 Drain water from garbage cans, house gutters, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flower pots or any other
containers where sprinkler or rain water has collected.
 Discard old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances and other items that aren’t being used.
 Empty and clean birdbaths and pet’s water bowls at least once or twice a week.
 Protect boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don’t accumulate water.
 Maintain swimming pools in good condition and appropriately chlorinated. Empty plastic swimming pools when
not in use.
COVER skin with clothing or repellent.
 Clothing—Wear shoes, socks and long pants and long-sleeves. This type of protection may be necessary for
people who must work in areas where mosquitoes are present.
 Repellent—Apply mosquito repellent to bare skin and clothing.
 Always use repellents according to the label. Repellents with DEET (N,N-diethyl-mtoluamide), picaridin,
oil of lemon eucalyptus, and IR3535 are effective.
 Use mosquito netting to protect children younger than 2 months old.
COVER doors and windows with screens to keep mosquitoes out of your house.
 Repair broken screening on windows, doors, porches and patios.
For more information visit the Department’s website:
www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-borne-diseases
Need Info? Call 352-629-0137
Birth & Death Certificates ext. 2064
Communicable Diseases ext. 2088
Dental Clinic 352-622-2664
Environmental Health ext. 2086
Family Planning ext. 2091
Health Education ext. 2195
Healthy Start ext. 2275
HIV/AIDS ext. 2073
Immunizations ext. 2017
Maternity ext. 2089
School Health ext. 2043
Sexually Transmitted Diseases ext. 2073
WIC & Nutrition ext. 2124
Marion Scripts
3 May 1, 2014
Salt Springs Village
community promotes health by
helping mothers
Volunteers create and donate handmade
quilts for Healthy Start
Promoting and improving health is a community effort, with
many partners doing their part to help.
Residents of Salt Spring Village, a community in northeastern
Marion County, do their part every year by creating and
donating handmade baby quilts to the Florida Department of Health in Marion County Healthy Start Program.
The Salt Springs residents work on the quilts throughout the year, getting them ready for their annual Baby Quilt
Day in March. Many of the residents come out to help the quilting club to apply the finishing touches. Each quilt is
inspected for safe assembly and personalized by a note, giving a personal touch.
The community’s quilting project started about 22 years ago by the late Ethel Payton. They began with a few quilts
for the babies of HIV positive mothers. Now the quilts made for Healthy Start have been as many as 125 a year, and
this year, 101 were donated.
“I can’t tell you how much these quilts mean to our clients at risk and in need,” said Lynne Hough, Healthy Start
Program administrator. “They are greatly appreciated, and they are often treasured as the baby’s first keepsake.”
Healthy Start helps at-risk pregnant women, women who have experienced the loss of a baby, infants, and children
up to three years old. Healthy Start provides support and education, resource information, case management, and
care coordination services in order to improve birth outcomes and decrease infant mortality. Healthy Start care
coordinators visit families in their homes and provide customized care. Services are free and voluntary to qualified
families.
“We help women and infants improve their lives by providing various educational and support services such as
parenting, breastfeeding, child birth, interconception education and counseling, and smoking cessation,” said Hough.
“We also have counselors available to assist clients with anxiety, stress and postpartum depression. We partner with
a variety of agencies such as the Marion County Children’s Alliance, Early Learning Coalition of Marion County,
Childhood Development Services, Marion County Public Libraries, Healthy Families, Devereux Kids, Kids Central,
and many others. With the community’s help we address issues like Safe Sleep to reduce the incidence of sudden
infant death syndrome, car seat use and car safety, water safety
and drowning prevention, literacy, family emotional health,
growth and development to name a few.”
To get started with the program women are encouraged to
complete the Healthy Start prenatal screening with their provider
at their first prenatal visit, or after the birth of the baby, complete
the Healthy Start infant screen. We welcome self and community
referrals.
Healthy Start is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. To make an
appointment, call 352-629-0137, ext. 2275.
Connect with the Florida Department of Health online
Scan the QR code to visit
www.MarionCoHealth.com