495: Power Outage Toolkit, Alpha-Gal Syndrome Explained

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, September 1, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

ERIC COTE: 

So, individuals with disabilities experience a range of challenges during power outages that relate to mobility challenges and dependence on power.  The ASTHO toolkit for power outage planning for jurisdictions details a range of strategies that jurisdictions can consider; that start with easier initiatives that can be accomplished with staff resources, without any additional need for funding, all the way up to more intensive activities modeled after the Louisiana Power Outage Partners initiative that require more intense staff activities.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO has a new toolkit to help agencies better plan for disaster-related power outages that threaten the health and safety of people living with disabilities. Eric Cote, founder of Power Outage Partners, helped write the toolkit.  Cote says power outages can quickly become a crisis for people who depend on electricity to operate or charge medical equipment.

COTE: 

We see, in a lot of disasters that are triggering power outages, that individuals who use life support equipment or other DME in their home, often flood hospital emergency departments simply seeking a place to plug in their device, which not only presents a challenge for the individual using that device, but it certainly presents a resource challenge for the hospitals receiving those individuals.

JOHNSON: 

You can download the document using the link in the show notes.

A tick-borne illness known as Alpha-Gal syndrome is spreading but the CDC says almost half of doctors surveyed have never heard of it. Elizabeth Schiffman is with the Minnesota Department of Health.

ELIZABETH SCHIFFMAN: 

So, it's an allergic reaction that some people have after being bitten by ticks, particularly the lone star tick, and then when they eat meat products or products made with mammals that have that sugar molecule in them. So, it's an allergic reaction basically, rather than a disease, like we usually talk about with tick-borne things.

JOHNSON: 

Schiffman says the best way to avoid Alpha-gal syndrome is to avoid ticks altogether.

SCHIFFMAN: 

I think the biggest thing that is advised for managing this allergy is avoiding tick bites. Because if you continue to get those tick bites, that's what's going to kind of amp up your immune system to kind of elicit those reactions. So, the biggest thing that's recommended is avoiding tick bites.

JOHNSON: 

Schiffman also agrees with the CDC assessment that providers still have a lot to learn about the illness.

SCHIFFMAN: 

So, a lot of them aren't really aware, you know, that this is an issue, that they should be thinking of in patients who present with certain symptoms. So, I think just better understanding what it is, how to test for it, how to diagnose it, and then how to guide patients in their management of this condition when they have it, are the big topics.

JOHNSON: 

The CDC has a webpage about Alpha-Gal syndrome. There's a link in the show notes.

Also today, ASTHO leadership training program soon will be available to anyone in public health. Leaders in Kentucky helped pilot the new Essentials of Leadership and Management initiative. Elizabeth Anderson-Hoagland with the Kentucky Department for Public Health is a recent graduate.

ELIZABETH ANDERSON-HOAGLAND:

We've had some pretty significant changes in how public health is administered in the state. And I feel like this program did a good job of addressing some of those changes. As we talk about moving to Public Health 2.0 and Public Health 3.0, I really feel like the ASTHO training was responsive to those types of changes and about how we, as supervisors, need to adjust with that.

JOHNSON: 

Anderson-Hoagland recommends the curriculum to anyone looking to become a better leader in their agency.

ANDERSON-HOAGLAND: 

I think this was a great program, because it not only had the basics and introductions to leadership, it also went more in-depth about some of the skills and resources that you could use as an individual supervisor and manager of your employees.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO began development of the ELM program in 2019. Anderson-Hoagland likes the focus on public health.

ANDERSON-HOAGLAND: 

It was about public health and it felt very relevant for me, it felt very useful. I felt like I came out of it with actionable items that I could use with the people that I work with.

JOHNSON: 

You can hear more about the ELM program in a new episode of the Public Health Review podcast. It's available now anywhere you stream audio and there's a link in the show notes.

Finally this morning, get more news like this delivered to your email inbox every week. All you need to do is sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly email newsletter. There's a link in the show notes.

And if you have a minute, please take the time to follow us and give us a review.

That'll do it for today. We're off on Monday to celebrate Labor Day, but we're back on Tuesday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great holiday weekend.