NH DHHS press release (11.21.11) "Food Safety Tips for the Holiday Season"

The following is taken from: http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/media/pr/11182011food.htm

Food Safety Tips for the Holiday Season

 

Contact:
Public Information Office
(603) 271-9391

Food Protection Section

Publish Date: November 18, 2011

Concord, NH – During this busy holiday season, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Bureau of Food Protection wants to remind everyone to follow some important food safety practices to avoid foodborne illnesses, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 48 million cases of illness, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths occurred in 2011 in the United States due to foodborne diseases. Symptoms can vary depending on the illness, but some common symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and nausea. It is difficult to say with certainty which microbe is causing a given illness without laboratory testing.

“Don’t let germs ruin your holiday activities by not taking proper precautions against foodborne disease,” said Dr. José Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS. “There are simple tips for safe food preparation that we should all be following every day, not just at holidays, but large gatherings and people cooking outside their comfort zone can present an opportunity for bacteria to be introduced into our food.”

The following simple precautions should always be followed by cooks and food handlers to reduce the possibility of anyone becoming sick:

• Separate: Use a separate cutting board for cooked foods and raw foods and always wash them after use. Do no cut raw vegetables on the same cutting board as raw meat. Avoid cross contamination. Wash any utensil after preparing one food item before going on to the next item.

• Clean: Always wash hands before touching any food. Wash hands and surfaces often during food preparation and afterward.

• Cook: Make sure all meats are thoroughly cooked by using a meat thermometer: turkey, stuffing, and casseroles to 165ºF; veal, beef, and lamb roasts to 145ºF; and ham, pork, ground beef, and egg dishes to 160ºF. When reheating, leftovers should be thoroughly heated to 165ºF.

• Chill: Refrigerate or freeze leftovers within two hours. The refrigerator should be maintained at 40ºF or lower and the freezer should be at 0ºF or lower. Keep hot foods hot, 140ºF or hotter, and cold foods cold, 40ºF or below. Never defrost food at room temperature. Thaw food in the refrigerator, in a cold-water bath, or in the microwave. When using a microwave, meat must be cooked immediately after. Marinate foods in the refrigerator.

• Report: Report suspected foodborne illnesses to the NH Department of Health and Human Services by calling 603-271-4496. Often calls from concerned citizens are how outbreaks are first detected. If a public health official calls you to talk about an outbreak your cooperation is important, even if you are not ill.

For more information visit www.usda.gov, www.cdc.gov, www.befoodsafe.org, or www.dhhs.nh.gov.

Join NH's volunteer system ESAR-VHP!

 
This information is provided by the NH Department of Health and Human Services.

http://icanhelp.nh.gov

The New Hampshire ESAR-VHP System is an electronic database of healthcare personnel and non-healthcare personnel who have indicated their interest in volunteering to provide aid in an emergency. The ESAR-VHP System:

1. registers healthcare volunteers and non-healthcare volunteers,
2. applies emergency credentialing standards to registered volunteers, and
3. allows for the verification of the identity, credentials, and qualifications of registered volunteers in an emergency.

Registered Volunteers are not required to respond to a request. Volunteers decide at the time of a request whether or not they can respond.

Importance of the ESAR-VHP Program

Experience has shown that, in an emergency, many of our nation’s health and medical providers are eager and willing to volunteer their professional health services. To meet the extraordinary demands of a large scale emergency, hospitals and other providers of healthcare will depend upon the services that health volunteers can provide. However, in a time of emergency, utilizing the capabilities of the nation’s health volunteers presents a major challenge to hospital, public health, and emergency authorities.

Immediately after the attacks on September 11, 2001, tens of thousands of people spontaneously showed up at ground zero in New York City to volunteer their assistance. A large number of these volunteers arrived to provide medical assistance to the victims of the attacks. In most cases, authorities were unable to distinguish those that were qualified from those that were not qualified, though well intentioned. Additionally, because the response was unsolicited and there was no mechanism of coordination, those that presented themselves reduced the effectiveness of the overall response effort rather than helping. The goal of the ESAR-VHP program is to eliminate a number of the significant problems encountered when seeking to utilize medical and healthcare volunteers in a complex emergency response situation.

The ESAR-VHP System is a National System Through State Coordination

The ESAR-VHP program is a State-based approach to establishing a national system. Every State independently develops, maintains, and operates an ESAR-VHP System. This effort is being funded through a federal grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the  Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response: The National Hospital Preparedness Program. This system for mutual assistance is developed through common definitions, standards, and protocols. In this way, the States’ ESAR-VHP Systems will form a critical network to facilitate the deployment of willing, needed, and qualified health volunteers for any emergency.

The ESAR-VHP Systems are created in accordance with formal incident command and emergency protocols with proper authorities responsible for the coordination of health volunteers. NH ESAR-VHP is part of the NH Medical Reserve Corps System. Volunteers' contact information may be shared with preparedness and response partners in NH.

To sign up now to be part of the ESAR-VHP system, please visit http://icanhelp.nh.gov

FEMA Press Release: FEMA, FCC Announce Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System

The following is taken verbatim from http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=55722

FEMA, FCC Announce Nationwide Test of the Emergency Alert System

Similar to local Emergency Alert System Tests, this Test is Scheduled to Take Place on November 9, 2011

Release Date: June 9, 2011
Release Number: HQ-11-099

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). The nationwide test will occur on Wednesday, November 9 at 2 p.m. eastern standard time and may last up to three and a half minutes.

The EAS is a national alert and warning system established to enable the President of the United States to address the American public during emergencies.  NOAA's National Weather Service, governors and state and local emergency authorities also use parts of the system to issue more localized emergency alerts. 

Similar to local EAS tests that are already conducted frequently, the nationwide test will involve broadcast radio and television stations, cable television, satellite radio and television services and wireline video service providers across all states and the territories of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

On November 9, the public will hear a message indicating that "This is a test." The audio message will be the same for both radio and television. Under the FCC's rules, radio and television broadcasters, cable operators, satellite digital audio radio service providers, direct broadcast satellite service providers and wireline video service providers are required to receive and transmit presidential EAS messages to the public. A national test will help the federal partners and EAS participants determine the reliability of the system and its effectiveness in notifying the public of emergencies and potential dangers nationally and regionally.

"A national test of our Emergency Alert System, with the vital communications support and involvement of participants, is a step towards ensuring that the alert and warning community is prepared to deliver critical information that can help save lives and protect property," said Damon Penn, FEMA's Assistant Administrator of National Continuity Programs. "Because there has never been an activation of the Emergency Alert System on a national level, FEMA views this test as an excellent opportunity to assess the readiness and effectiveness of the current system.  It is important to remember that this is not a pass or fail test, but a chance to establish a baseline for making incremental improvements to the Emergency Alert System with ongoing and future testing.  It is also important to remember that the Emergency Alert System is one of many tools in our communications toolbox, and we will continue to work on additional channels that can be a lifeline of information for people during an emergency."

"The upcoming national test is critical to ensuring that the EAS works as designed," said Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.  "As recent disasters here at home and in Japan have reminded us, a reliable and effective emergency alert and warning system is key to ensuring the public's safety during times of emergency.  We look forward to working with FEMA in preparation for this important test."

Over the past two years and as part of ongoing national preparedness planning efforts, FEMA, the FCC and other federal partners, state, local, tribal and territorial governments, Emergency Alert System participants and other stakeholders have been working toward making this test a reality. 

As the federal, state, tribal, territorial and local governments prepare for and test their capabilities, this event serves as a reminder that everyone should establish an emergency preparedness kit and emergency plan for themselves, their families, communities, and businesses.  Anyone can visit http://www.ready.gov/ for more information about how to prepare for and stay informed about what to do in the event of an actual emergency.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.