Make sure your facility is prepared for smallpox
Bush plan calls for January start for vaccinations
With the announcement last month by the Bush administration to implement smallpox vaccination in the nation’s hospitals, it is more important than ever that you be aware of the consequences for your facility and its employees. Last month, more than 200 health care facilities tuned in for the live audio conference Imminent Smallpox Vaccinations in Hospitals: Consequences for You and Your Facility, sponsored by Thomson American Health Consultants. If you missed the live call, the invaluable information from this program is available on compact disc.
The 90-minute presentation, led by three smallpox experts, includes information designed to help you and your staff answer serious questions and prepare for the threat posed by the smallpox vaccine. Learn how being vaccinated will affect your staff, how to protect yourself, patients, and family, what the logistics of implementing a smallpox care team are, how to deal with vulnerable populations, what the staffing issues are, and what the privacy and liability concerns are.
The presentation was led by William Schaffner, MD, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. A veteran, award-winning epidemiologist who has seen actual cases of smallpox and currently oversees a volunteer smallpox vaccine study at Vanderbilt, Schaffner is a liaison member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The second speaker, Jane Siegel, MD, is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The author of several books on infection control issues, she has emerged as a key CDC advisor. As a member of the CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, she is on a bioterrorism working group that reviewed the critical issues regarding smallpox vaccine. The other speaker, Joseph J. Kilpatrick, RN, NREMT-P, is an adjunct instructor with the Texas A&M University System in College Station, where he develops courses and provides training on weapons of mass destruction and emergency medical services (EMS) courses to EMS professionals throughout the United States.
The cost of the CD is $299, which includes 1.5 hours of free CE, CME, and Critical Care credits, plus 2 ACEP Category I credits. Educate your entire staff for one low fee, which includes handout material and additional references. For information or to order the CD, call customer service at (800) 688-2421. Please refer to the effort code: 65971.