The Oakland County Long Term Care (LTC) Partnership Committee began in May 2011 in an effort to engage LTC facilities in preparedness planning. The LTC Partnership committee meets monthly and continues to grow.

Important partners at the table include:

• Oakland County Health Division (OCHD)
• Oakland County Homeland Security (OCHSD)
• Oakland County Medical Control Authority (OCMCA)
• Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN)
• Region 2 North (R2N)
• Oakland County Medical Examiner (OCME)
• Guest Speakers from various agencies

OCHD provides a full range of topics beyond Emergency Preparedness as every meeting is viewed as an opportunity to provide a great deal of valuable information. Issues such as MRSA, C. Diff, West Nile, Pneumonia, Norovirus, seasonal influenza, dementia, dental hygiene, falls, and other relevant topics are on the agenda. Agendas are developed to allow OCHD to offer CEUs to LTC administrators who physically attend meetings. Some of the greatest accomplishments to come out of this group include:

• The development of the Closed POD Toolkit as part of the Oakland County Cities Readiness Initiative. The toolkit has encouraged our LTC facilities to take a step by step approach to this planning. Closed POD planning has proven useful beyond a medication dispensing plan as it has provided important strategies that can be utilized in all hazards planning.
• The connection to OCHSD has resulted in our LTC facilities completing or scheduling a comprehensive Hazard Vulnerability Assessment.
• Medical Control Authority worked with a subcommittee to develop a Transportation Protocol Algorithm to identify when a facility should contact 911 or the EMS provider directly.

For more information, contact the Oakland County Emergency Preparedness Unit at 248-858-1318.