Welcome to the Connecticut Health Care Coalition Newsletter
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Connecticut Health Care Coalition (CT HCC) is to promote collaboration, education, and joint exercises during the planning and preparedness phases of emergency management. During real-world operations, the mission of the CT HCC is to help identify resources at the state and sub-state levels, and to collect, analyze, validate, and disseminate essential elements of information (EEIs) to partner agencies.
Coalition Updates
We want to meet with your organization!
The coalition is looking to conduct meet-and-greets with members, partners, and guests on the days of April 2-3. Are you interested in showing off your facility and capabilities? Do you want to meet one-on-one with coalition coordinators to see what the coalition can do for your organization? Contact us to discuss which dates and times work best for you! A meet-and-greet meeting typically takes between 90 minutes and two hours, and can include any relevant staff or tours that you would like included.
Connecticut Health Care Coalition Conference: Seats are Filling Up Fast!
Register now for the 2025 CT HCC Conference! Each year, the Connecticut Health Care Coalition conducts a FREE, one-day educational conference for our partners and guests. The date for this year's conference will be Tuesday, April 22, 2025. The conference is set to take place at the Sheraton Hotel in Rocky Hill, CT.
Have you been waiting to preview the conference sessions before registering? The conference agenda is available now!
We have limited seats remaining, at this conference. Interested in attending? Register today!
Register Today for Clever Integrations: Teams & Hospital Incident Command
The Connecticut Health Care Coalition and the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness and Response Coalition are co-sponsoring a presentation featuring Scott Cossey of Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, CA, who is presenting on how to utilize the Microsoft ecosystem to create efficiencies across ICS.
He will share details regarding utilizing Excel IC documents to build out input forms using MS Forms, highlight efficiencies in building out shareable After Action Reports, and walk through the documents and processes built out in their Hospital MS Teams Dashboard.
News and Info
NHCPC Takeaways Feature #3
Each year, the CT HCC is honored to attend the National Health Care Coalition Preparedness Conference (NHCPC). This year, coalition staff were joined by multiple partners, including five members who were sponsored in their attendance via a coalition scholarship. To ensure that the full coalition can benefit from these conferences, we've asked sponsored attendees to provide some lessons they learned from educational sessions. Kevin Shuck, Emergency Management Specialist at the Office of Emergency Preparedness at Yale New Haven Health, was one of those sponsored members. We've asked him some questions about his experience, which he has answered below:
General Conference Comments?
I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to the coalition for their generous sponsorship that enabled my attendance at the 2024 National Healthcare Coalition Conference. This event proved to be incredibly enriching, providing a unique platform to connect with esteemed healthcare professionals from Connecticut as well as from across the nation. Throughout the conference, many sessions stood out to me, particularly in illustrating the crucial role that healthcare coalitions play. It became evident that having a coalition that operates effectively at all levels—encompassing prehospital settings, hospitals, and various disciplines including fire and police—is of immense value to states. The collaboration among these different sectors is essential for enhancing our overall healthcare response to a disaster.
Favorite Sessions and Lessons Learned?
One session that particularly resonated with me focused on the themes of cybersecurity and downtime preparedness—topics of critical importance, not only on a national scale but also specifically within the Yale New Haven Health System. This session was conducted in an open forum format, which facilitated a dynamic exchange of ideas. Emergency managers from various backgrounds shared their own preparedness strategies as well as the obstacles they encounter in their operations. This dialogue underscored a shared understanding: the challenges we face in this area are significant, and our collective prioritization of these issues is essential. A particularly impactful takeaway from the discussion was the emphasis on how incident command teams should navigate downtime scenarios. Rather than becoming mired in the details of why a system is down or the technical avenues for repair, it is far more critical to concentrate on the resulting consequences. The focus should be directed toward devising effective strategies to mitigate the impacts of any downtime, ensuring continuity of care and operational efficiency in our emergency responses.
Another take away was a recommendation to envision a potential disaster event occurring within 100 days from today and to start formulating a detailed plan to ensure our preparedness for that situation. This involves not only identifying the specific type of disaster we might face but also outlining the necessary steps and resources we would need to have in place by that hundredth day to have a successful response to the disaster.
Final Thoughts?
Again, thank you to the coalition for sending me to the conference. It was a great experience, and I would recommend anyone who did not attend in 2024 to do so in 2025.
Stay tuned for more lessons learned from the NHCPC conference. For more information about how you can benefit from funding opportunities, such as conference scholarships, contact us today!
All Clear now hiring a Readiness & Response Coordinator for the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition!
All Clear Emergency Management Group is searching for a detail oriented, highly skilled and motivated Readiness and Response Coordinator for the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition.
This is a full-time exempt position, and is 100% virtual position (except when traveling). Preference will be given to Vermont-based candidates.
To learn more about the Vermont Healthcare Emergency Preparedness Coalition, visit their website. Please share this opportunity with your networks!
Partner Trainings and Exercises
Each month, the CT HCC spreads the word about our partners' emergency preparedness trainings, exercises, and other training opportunities in and around the state of Connecticut. You can view the calendar of partner events, event flyers, and other details below. If you would like to add your organization's event to the calendar and the newsletter, please contact the Readiness and Response Coordinator.
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UPCOMING WEBINAR: Prepared on Paper: Lassa in the Heartland
Download the accessible PDF version of this flyer HERE.
Join the Region 1 Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center and the Region 1 Regional Disaster Health Response System as they host emergency management, special pathogens, and epidemiological experts to discuss a real world Special Pathogens incident in Iowa. Speakers will cover the incident, as well as lessons learned in their plan implementation process.
Mass Care: Shelter and Relocation Capacity Building
This performance-level, virtual, instructor-led training will provide participants with an understanding of how to build shelter and relocation capacity. The course will review the requirements of sheltering and evacuation, including the equipment and staffing needs for these operations. In addition, planning for sheltering, evacuation, and relocation will also be covered. The course will review case studies of previous disasters and look at best practices from these events.
When: March 11, 2025 | 9 AM - 5 PM
Where: Virtual
Register today for the 2025 EMS symposium
Click HERE for the accessible PDF version of this flyer
The EMS Institute and The Hotchkiss School will present a one-day EMS Symposium on March 15, 2025. Join them at a low-cost subsidized price subsidized by the Institute, learn from a variety of speakers, and secure CEUs!
Coalition-Sponsored MRC Mission Sets Workshop
Click HERE for the accessible PDF version of this flyer
Capitol Region Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), using funding from a CT HCC Special Project Award, is set to conduct a one-day free seminar on MRC Mission Sets in Wallingford, CT. This interactive event will strengthen relationships among the 25 CT MRC units, share examples of how mission sets can help units be better prepared to help healthcare facilities during blue skies and emergencies, and inspire MRC members to define new and different ways to help each other.
Region 1's Upcoming CERC Exercise
Region 1 is pleased to invite you to attend an upcoming full day interactive and collaboative risk and crisis communication exercise. During the past couple of years, Region 1 has been working with the Centre for Crisis & Risk Communications who have shared communication core principles, theories, and tools with teams across the state. Now is the time to put it all together.
The day is appropriate for all participants, no matter your day to day area of responsibility or your experience with risk or crisis events.
When: March 28, 2025, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM ET
Where: Fairfield University
Contact Sue Jacozzi for further information and support.
RDPC Presents: AWR 209: Working with The Media: A Course for Rural First Responders
The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium will be offering AWR 209, a DHS/FEMA-certified, 8-hour, tuition-free course designed to provide rural first responders with the skills and knowledge to quickly adopt the role of public information officer (PIO) if/when needed and to communicate with the public through the media. Many rural first responder organizations do not have a full or part-time PIO on staff. AWR 209 will help anyone who may enter the PIO role to navigate communication and media challenges.
Free Coalition-Sponsored Seminar on Mental Health and Wellness
Click HERE for the accessible PDF version of this flyer
Old Mystic Fire Department, using funding from a CT HCC Special Project Award, is set to conduct a one-day free seminar on mental health and wellness in Mystic, CT. First Responders and Health Care Workers are invited to join Old Mystic FD for a day of education on first responder mental health and wellness.
Healthcare Integrated Decontamination and Incident Response Training (HIDIRT)
The Healthcare Integrated Decontamination and Incident Response Training is designed to equip healthcare professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively respond to decontamination scenarios in a hospital setting. The course encompasses various modules covering decontamination basics, incident command systems, decontamination techniques, detection
and identification, personal protective equipment, and practical application through realistic scenarios.
When: April 17 & 18, 2025 | 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Where: 9 Farm Springs Road Farmington, CT
OR
When: May 1 & 2, 2025 | 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Where: 110 Barnes Rd Wallingford, CT
Please email your hospital's two attendees' names, emails, mobile numbers, and course dates to coordinator@cthcc.org. Paul Rabeuf will then send a registration link.
New! Operation Team ICS (OPTICS): An Incident Command System Training for Connecticut Public Health Professionals
- Register on Train Connecticut at https://www.train.org/.
- Enroll in the web-based training for ICS Training for CT Public Health Professionals. Course ID: 1125663.
- Complete the post-test to receive a certificate of completion.
- Questions: For login questions, please visit https://www.train.org/connecticut/u/train-help. For questions about this training, please email dph.phep@ct.gov.
Now scheduling Cybersecurity Assessments for Local Municipalities
Following the recent system upgrade, the Connecticut Basic WebEOC Training has been updated to reflect new functionality and expand user base knowledge of the system. This 2-hour virtual class is the prerequisite for all other WebEOC classes. Basic WebEOC courses taken before November 2024 no longer qualify individuals as fulfilling the prerequisites for other WebEOC courses.
TEEX Courses are Coming to Connecticut!
The following courses will be offered through via TEEX in Connecticut in the coming months:
| Training Name | Location | Date |
| PER211: Medical Management of Chem, Bio, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Events | Bridgeport, CT | March 11-12, 2025 |
| MGT904: Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents | Andover, CT | April 8-10, 2025 |
| MGT452: Physical and Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure | Middletown, CT | June 10, 2025 |
| MGT348: Medical Preparedness and Response for Bombing Incidents | Danbury, CT | September 3-4, 2025 |
| MGT439: Pediatric Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness | New Britain, CT | October 30-31, 2025 |
| MGT319: Medical Countermeasures: Point of Dispensing (POD), Planning and Response | Torrington, CT | December 2-3, 2025 |
DEMHS Course List
The following courses will be offered through the CT Department of Emergency Services and Public Education (DEMHS) in the coming months:
| Training Name | Location | Date |
| Connecticut CERT Connect: Webinar Series | Virtual | March 11, 2025 |
| Threat Evaluation and Reporting Overview | Virtual | April 22, 2025 |
For more information about these courses or to register for a course, please visit the DEMHS training website.
All Clear Emergency Management Group has the following upcoming free webinars:
Contact Us
Email your coalition coordinators at Coordinator@CTHCC.org with questions, comments, or to assist you with any of your preparedness needs.