| FEMA Advisory: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Whole-of-America Response |
| 04/13/2020 |
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FEMA ADVISORY – April 13, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
Whole-of-America Response
In support of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic response, FEMA provides the following: FEMA Project Airbridge video Advisory; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Preservation Best Practices Advisory and Fact Sheet, and a Resource Requests from the International Reagent Resource (IRR) Advisory and Fact Sheet.
FEMA Project Airbridge
To efficiently maintain the country’s existing medical supply chain infrastructure, FEMA augments the existing supply chain through a variety of strategies, to include FEMA Project Airbridge.
FEMA created Project Airbridge to reduce the amount of time it takes for U.S. medical supply distributors to get commercially sourced and procured Personal Protective Equipment and other critical supplies into the country for their respective customers. FEMA is doing this by covering the cost to fly supplies into the U.S. from overseas factories, cutting the amount of time it takes to ship supplies from weeks to days.
FEMA provides distributors with up-to-date information on the locations across the country hardest hit by COVID-19 or in most need of resources now and in the future. As part of the current agreement with distributors, 50 percent of the supplies on each plane are directed by the distributors to customers within hotspot areas with the most critical needs for those supplies. The HHS and FEMA determine hotspot areas based on CDC data.
A brief video on Project Airbridge is available on FEMA Website and on all FEMA social media accounts.
Project Airbridge Advisory: Attachment [1]
Personal Protective Equipment Preservation Best Practices
This Personal Protective Equipment Preservation Best Practices Fact Sheet (attached) summarizes best practices for national implementation to sustain personal protective equipment (PPE) while ensuring the protection of workers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic response.
The objective of the COVID-19 National Strategy for Addressing PPE Shortage is to ensure protection against COVID-19 for healthcare workers, first responders, and patients by implementing three pillars of practice: reduce, reuse, and repurpose. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic response and associated PPE shortages, implementation of contingency and crisis capacity plans may be necessary to ensure continued availability of protective gear.
This fact sheet amplifies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strategies on conventional, contingency and crisis capacity strategies for optimizing PPE. All U.S. healthcare facilities should begin using PPE contingency strategies now and may need to consider crisis capacity strategies if experiencing PPE shortages.
Preserving Personal Protective Equipment Best Practices Advisory: Attachment [2]
Preserving Personal Protective Equipment Best Practices Fact Sheet: Attachment [3]
Resource Requests from the International Reagent Resource
The International Reagent Resource (IRR), established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), acquires, authenticates, and produces reagents that scientists need to carry out basic research and develop improved diagnostic tests, vaccines, and detection methods.
The (IRR) Fact Sheet (attached) outlines a simplified process for states and territories to make resource requests from the IRR. Consolidating testing supplies under the IRR alleviates burden on public health labs, which increases efficiency and reduces need to work with separate, individual suppliers for swabs, reagents, and other diagnostic testing supplies.
International Reagent Resource Advisory: Attachment [4]
International Reagent Resource Fact Sheet: Attachment [5]
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
Follow Us
Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA online, on Twitter @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol, on FEMA Facebook page or FEMA Espanol page and at FEMA YouTube channel.
Also, follow Administrator Pete Gaynor on Twitter @FEMA_Pete.
FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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| FEMA Advisory: FY2020 Emergency Management Performance Grant Program Supplemental Funding |
| 04/13/2020 |
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FEMA ADVISORY – April 13, 2020
FEMA FY2020 Emergency Management Performance Grant Program Supplemental Funding
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FEMA are announcing the release of the Notice of Funding Opportunity and Final Allocations for the $100 million in supplemental funding made available to the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program (EMPG) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Topline messaging includes:
- The EMPG Supplemental, (or EMPG-S), program is authorized by CARES Act, Div. B (Pub. L. No. 116-136) and the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Pub. L. No. 93-288. Under the EMPG Program FEMA is authorized to make grants for the purpose of providing a system of emergency preparedness for the protection of life and property in the United States from hazards and to vest responsibility for emergency preparedness jointly in the federal government and the states and their political subdivisions. Under EMPG, grants are awarded to the 56 states and territories. The states and territories make subawards to local and tribal governments.
- The FY 2020 EMPG-S program assists states, local governments, tribes and territories with their public health and emergency management activities supporting the prevention of, preparation for and response to the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency. Through this funding opportunity, FEMA will award funding to support planning and operational readiness for COVID-19 preparedness and response, as well as the development of tools and strategies for prevention, preparedness, and response, and ensure ongoing communication and coordination among federal, state, local, tribal and territorial partners throughout the response.
- Funding awarded under the EMPG-S program is separate and distinct from any funding that will be awarded under the FY 2020 EMPG Program NOFO published on Feb. 14, 2020.
- The attached Information Bulletin and Fact Sheet provide further details as well as final allocations for the 56 states and territories.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
Follow Us
Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA online, on Twitter @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol, on FEMA Facebook page or FEMA Espanol page and at FEMA YouTube channel.
Also, follow Administrator Pete Gaynor on Twitter @FEMA_Pete.
FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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| FEMA Advisory: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic (April 14, 2020) |
| 04/14/2020 |
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FEMA ADVISORY – April 14, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic:
Whole-of-America Response
Attached you will find today’s FEMA Daily Briefing Points and a Reference Document for the Whole-of-America response to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These briefing points include Topline Messages, as well as Supply Chain Task Force; By the Numbers; FEMA and Department of Health and Human Services Response; and Guidance from Federal Agencies.
Topline messaging includes:
- FEMA, HHS, and our federal partners work with state, local, tribal and territorial governments to execute a whole-of-America response to COVID-19 pandemic and protect the health and safety of the American people.
- FEMA continues to expedite movement of commercially pre-sourced and commercially procured critical supplies from the global market to medical distributors in various locations across the U.S. through Project Airbridge.
- HHS announced five new contracts for ventilator production rated under the Defense Production Act (DPA), to General Electric, Hill-Rom, Medtronic, ResMed, and Vyaire, as well as two other contracts for ventilator production, to Hamilton and Zoll.
- In total, combined with contracts with General Motors and Philips rated under the DPA issued last week, HHS has finalized contracts to supply 6,190 ventilators for the Strategic National Stockpile by May 8 and 29,510 by June 1.
- The seven new ventilator contracts announced by HHS this month will provide a total of 137,431 ventilators by the end of 2020.
- The thousands of ventilators delivered to the Strategic National Stockpile starting this month, continuing through the spring and summer, will provide more capacity to respond to the pandemic as it evolves.
- HHS and FEMA deployment of ventilators from the stockpile have helped ensure that hospitals in states such as New York have not run out of ventilator capacity while working to save lives.
- The federal government has adopted a process to manage allocation of federal ventilator resources to ensure the right number of ventilators are shipped to the right states to sustain life within a 72-hour window.
- Emergency managers and public health officials submit requests for ventilators to FEMA/HHS, providing detailed data on total medical/ hospital beds; total acute care (ICU) beds; normal occupancy; predicted surge occupancy; and number of ventilators available in the state.
- States can send requests outside of the 72-hour window for consideration by the federal government; allocation decisions and/or shipments, however, should not be expected until the state is within the immediate 72-hour window.
- Hospital administrators across the country are being asked to provide daily reports on testing, capacity, supplies, utilization, and patient flows to facilitate the ongoing public health response.
- On April 13, The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA announced the funding notice for an additional $100 million in supplemental Emergency Management Performance Grant Program funds.
- The money is available to all 56 states and territories as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. All applications must be submitted on Grants.gov by April 28.
- HHS and FEMA have expanded the items supplied by the International Reagent Resource (IRR) to help public health labs access diagnostics supplies and reagents for COVID-19 testing free of charge.
- Consolidating testing supplies under the IRR simplifies the resource request process for states and territories and alleviates the burden on public health labs of the need to work with separate, individual suppliers for swabs, reagents and other diagnostic testing supplies.
- The expanded list of diagnostic supplies will include supplies to support the three components needed for COVID-19 testing: sample kits, extraction kits and test kits.
- FEMA issued guidance on the framework, policy details and requirements for determining the eligibility for FEMA reimbursement of states purchasing and distributing food to meet the immediate needs of those who do not have access to food as a result of COVID-19 and to protect the public from the spread of the virus.
- State, local, tribal, and territorial governments with the legal responsibility for protecting life, public health and safety are eligible applicants under emergency and major disaster declarations for the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Applicants may enter into formal agreements or contracts with private organizations, including private nonprofit organizations such as food banks, to purchase and distribute food when necessary as an emergency protective measure in response to the pandemic.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
Follow Us
Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA online, on Twitter @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol, on FEMA Facebook page or FEMA Espanol page and at FEMA YouTube channel.
Also, follow Administrator Pete Gaynor on Twitter @FEMA_Pete.
FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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| FEMA Advisory: COVID19 Pandemic: Applying the Defense Production Act |
| 04/14/2020 |
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FEMA ADVISORY – April 14, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic:
Applying the Defense Production Act
The scarcity of medical resources in the fight against COVID-19 is a global issue. The United States is competing for the same resources as many other countries. To maximize the availability of critical protective and lifesaving resources to front line health care workers, FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are executing a four-pronged approach to rapidly increase supply today and expand domestic production of medical supplies and equipment to increase supply long-term. The approach includes Preservation, Acceleration, Expansion and Allocation.
The Defense Production Act (DPA) provides authorities that are being applied to support Acceleration and Expansion efforts. Priority rated DPA orders do not create a situation of “outbidding;” rather, it puts the federal government requirement to the “front of the line” for fulfillment ahead of other orders.
As we process orders through the supply chain, we are maintaining close coordination with governors to identify potential bidding conflicts. We look to the Nation’s governors and tribal leaders to make us aware of specific information regarding apparent bidding conflict. If a bidding conflict does arise, we work closely with the state or tribe to resolve it in a way that best serves their needs.
For more information on how the Defense Production Act authorities are helping during the COVID-19 response, please review the attached fact sheet.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
Follow Us
Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA online, on Twitter @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol, on FEMA Facebook page or FEMA Espanol page and at FEMA YouTube channel.
Also, follow Administrator Pete Gaynor on Twitter @FEMA_Pete.
FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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| FEMA Advisory: COVID19 Pandemic: Mass Casualty Management Best Practices |
| 04/14/2020 |
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FEMA ADVISORY – April 14, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic:
Mass Casualty Management Best Practices
As countries around the world battle the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic responders, medical professionals, public health professionals and others are managing thousands of fatalities per day. Due to the population of our country, the U.S. anticipates managing significant numbers of fatalities. Our country has experienced mass casualty events in Hurricanes Maria, Sandy, and Katrina, and after the September 11th attacks. Each of these were localized that resulted in up to 3,000 deaths.
The Fact Sheet identified key findings as they relate to ongoing COVID-19 operations across the country. These are potential best practices that are provided for consideration and do not constitute and should not be considered as guidance in any way.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
Follow Us
Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA online, on Twitter @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol, on FEMA Facebook page or FEMA Espanol page and at FEMA YouTube channel.
Also, follow Administrator Pete Gaynor on Twitter @FEMA_Pete.
FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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| FEMA Advisory: COVID19 Pandemic: Purchase and Distribution of Food Eligible for Public Assistance |
| 04/14/2020 |
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FEMA ADVISORY – April 14, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic:
Purchase and Distribution of Food Eligible for Public Assistance
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary as an emergency protective measure to provide food to meet the immediate needs of those who do not have access to food and to protect the public from the spread of the virus. On April 11, 2020, FEMA issued a new policy that addresses the purchase and distribution of food eligible for Public Assistance funding under emergency and major disaster declarations for the COVID-19 pandemic.
State, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments with the legal responsibility for protecting life, public health and safety are eligible applicants for assistance related to the purchase and distribution of food.
SLTT applicants may enter into formal agreements or contracts with private organizations, including private nonprofit organizations such as food banks, to purchase and distribute food when necessary as an emergency protective measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In these cases, Public Assistance funding is provided to the legally responsible government entity, which would then reimburse the private organization for services under the agreement or contract.
All costs must be reasonable and are subject to standard Public Assistance program eligibility and other federal requirements, as well as the prevailing cost-share requirement for the respective COVID-19 emergency or major disaster declaration.
This form of assistance is time-limited with additional information outlined in the policy.
FEMA will engage with interagency partners, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to ensure this assistance does not duplicate other available assistance.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs, Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Division:
Follow Us
Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA online, on Twitter @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol, on FEMA Facebook page or FEMA Espanol page and at FEMA YouTube channel.
Also, follow Administrator Pete Gaynor on Twitter @FEMA_Pete.
FEMA Mission
To help people before, during and after disasters.
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