Jeff Magill, manager of emergency preparedness at Western Psychiatric Hospital, a part of UPMC, talks about long-term planning and how to prepare for the unexpected.
Tell us a little bit about your background. What is – what’s your education?
Magill: So, I have, a master’s degree in human behavior. Twenty-five years in the field working with social service, human services, mostly crisis response, critical instance stress management, crisis response, and disaster behavioral health response.
Jeff, with your years of experience, can you think of anything that compares to what we are looking at right now?
Magill: So, this is certainly unique as we think about the scope and the size of this event, right? We’ve had other large-scale events, certainly in the United States. We think back to the incident with Katrina, right? We also think about 9/11. And in those events, they were more regionalized, but the impact could be felt across the country, for sure, both and stress and psychological impact as well as financial strains. But in terms of the scope and the magnitude, this one certainly unprecedented in my lifetime.
Talking a little bit about how you prepare and we’re all kind of in the middle of this and depending on where you are in the country this is going to kind of move in waves. What do people need to be thinking about today and tomorrow, right now in the immediate future in terms of putting a plan together for their families?
Magill: Being prepared, having a plan really aids us in events such as this and really from an all-hazards perspective, any kind of event. First and foremost, you want to be informed. You want to make sure you’re getting the facts, make sure the resources information is credible. Depending on the circumstance, in this case, we recommend certainly looking at things such as the Center for Disease Control, the CDC, maybe the World Health Organization. Then also, being informed locally as to the response and how things are being managed from your local county or state health department and thinking about others that you may need to get information from such as your school, your employer so that you can properly be informed in order for that information to aid you in your planning. In terms of planning, you want to think about who I need to plan for. Is it myself? Is it myself and others in my household? Are there other dependents including young children maybe elderly parents even pets? And what does that look like?
Let’s go into that a little bit. First of all, what is your response? Are we looking at needing to be prepared to be isolated for a period of time? Is that of utmost concern right now?
Magill: Based on what we’re hearing right now it’s something that we should consider in terms of isolating, right? We’re hearing a lot about 14 days, a couple of weeks, potentially. And so, to that point, making sure that we have the resources necessary. Oftentimes this includes basic needs such as water and food, the type of foods that can have a shelf life. So canned goods, non-perishable items, things that can also be easily prepped if you’re not feeling well. And again, depending on who’s in the home, what kind of things can they eat, right? So, you want to think about those things. You want to do that in moderation, though. You don’t want to get too extreme in those plans, but you do want to make sure you have ample supplies on hand for the number of folks that are going to be with you during the time of isolation.
When you said ample, about how many weeks because I’ve seen people walk out of Costco with six grocery carts? Are we looking to get a week’s worth, two weeks?
Magill: A couple of weeks at this point. So, we’re looking at a couple of weeks of resources to have on hand. We want to make sure that we’re prepared, but also we know buying more in large bulks and quantities can create a financial strain for people, as well. So, what is reasonable.
Is there anything that people are not thinking about that they should have on hand? You mentioned water, but what do they need if there’s someone sick in the household, ginger ale, or something with electrolytes or are there a couple of things that? In case, there’s an illness?
Magill: Yeah, so think about first and foremost what are some of the basic medications that family members, including yourself, may already require, having meaningful conversations with your primary care physician or your health care provider to ensure that you’re going to have those supplies on hand. If it’s a question of whether or not you can get refills, engage your pharmacy to make sure that you can arrange for those. Some of us rely heavily on pharmacies that deliver to our homes so have those conversations upfront with your pharmacist or your local provider for your medication to ensure that you’re going to have access and what their contingency plans are during situations where people are in isolation. Additionally, you want to think about if this is an illness that’s going to create GI upset, things like ginger ale, things that will help comfort the stomach will be really important, also.
In terms of families who have really little ones, what should they think about in terms of having in stock?
Magill: Resources that would allow you to comfort your child into care for your child through that two-week period. So maybe an extra supply of diapers, an extra box or two, thinking about the baby wipes. Depending on, you know, nursing versus formula having the baby food on stock and on hand and, again, in moderation but anticipate for a couple of weeks, for sure.
Now we’ve talked about supplies. So, if you’ve got you’ve got your house stocked, what other things should you look at in terms of preparation?
Magill: Well, I think a big thing is a communication, right? So not only communication within the family and how am I going to continue to stay in communication with others in my social network, but also just how do I get updates from my local emergency management agencies and the local media outlets as to updates as to what’s going on. Are you registered through a county or community notification system? A lot of times nowadays we do have those notification systems, so become informed. Reach out to your municipality, your county, your local officials to find out how they do notify. If it’s through the media, oftentimes they do allow you to subscribe to a list so that you can receive those either alerts or emails. But to make sure that you know how that communication is going to happen. Additionally, how are you going to communicate with your family? Now in this situation, likely if we’re in isolation, you’re going to be able to use your phone and those kinds of things. But I think about it also from an all-hazards perspective. In this kind of situation, we do have a little bit of time to prepare and plan, but other situations are more emergent, more immediate. We don’t always have that. So, if we’re separated from our loved ones during the emergency, how do I communicate with them, right? Sometimes our local phone lines are tied up because of the response or media in general with their coverage of the story. What we often say is have an out-of-state non-local contact who could be your central hub for communication. I can communicate with them; my other family members should know that that’s our central location for communication. They all reach out, and then we can get updates when we check in with that person who is out of state. It’s often more easily identifiable to reach somebody out of state than it would be locally in terms of access.
What are we looking at a couple of weeks down the road, what are we learning from this particular situation that might shape the way we plan in the future?
Magill: Well, I think this will help aid us as we move forward with preparedness. I think we get comfortable at times. You know, when we have an event, we stay hyper-vigilant for a period of time, but then we start to go back to our everyday selves. And, I think it can be hard psychologically and just financially to stay hyper-vigilant and also in the state at a level of preparedness. To that point, though, I think we need to learn. I think it’s important that we learn from these experiences and maintain a level of wellness and preparedness. So, what that means is think about the resources on hand, make sure we want to please them. Think about our communication plans and any other plans that we develop in terms of response. Practice those from time to time so that they stay fresh, so that we’re not just ramping up every time we have an emergency, but keep in our state of readiness. I think that’s really important.
Somebody mentioned today about finances. Should you have cash on hand? Do you need to make a trip to the bank? What kind of resources should you have and keep at home?
Magill: Yeah, interesting enough, you know, we live in a world today where we rely heavily on credit cards. If we’re going to be ordering things, oftentimes they require a credit card. If we’re going to be in isolation, having just cash on our hands may not be as meaningful. So, to that point, we definitely encourage folks if you’re going to be ordering things or trying to get things brought for the home definitely have some line of credit that you can access those resources for sure. But if you have a supplier or resource that you reach out to, like your pharmacist. Or if you do online grocery shopping, reach out to them. Make sure you understand their policies in advance, what terms of or what types of transactions do they accept whether it be cash, whether it be some kind of other electronic versions besides credit cards. You’ll definitely want to know that.
Is there anything I didn’t ask you, Jeff, that you think would be important for people to know?
Magill: Just also taking into account psychological wellness, thinking about staying inside for a two-week period of time during quarantine or isolation, and the psychological impact that can have on individuals. We often think about just the normalcy of routine and that’s what gets us through most days. But having a complete disruption of routine, especially one where you don’t feel like you have much control over for a two-week period, can be overwhelming. In most cases, people are incredibly resilient. But starting to think about your resiliency plans, who is in your inner circle? Who are your support systems? Making sure that you can use today’s creative access using Facebook or FaceTime or other social media outlets to stay in communication with your loved ones and your connections. Think about what you’re going to do for those two weeks, right? It may be a great opportunity to get caught up on some TV watching, to binge-watch a certain program that you haven’t been able to catch up with. Maybe to take in a project that you’ve been looking to do around the house. Do some reading. Things that are going to help take your mind off of the heaviness that this can create. These can be healthy distractions for you but to know that there are also resources like your local county Crisis Agency, the SAMHSA, the substance abuse mental health service administration distress helpline that you can reach out to, the national suicide prevention line. So, there’s a lot of phone resources that can aid you in managing your psychological wellness not only your physical wellness as you manage it in isolation but also your psychological wellness, too.
I saw something yesterday and someone pointed this out to me. Even though we’re talking about isolating and the social distance, still not a bad idea if the weather permits to get outside even if it’s in your backyard or down the street and maintain that distance, but still get some sunlight. Is that something to consider?
Magill: Yeah, I think it’s what’s reasonable, right? We are cautioning folks about the interpersonal connection in terms of tight space, handshaking, those kinds of things. But social distance is the key. Practicing good hand hygiene is the key and sort of to that point, can you walk within your house? Can you walk in your neighborhood? Can you sit on your back porch for small periods if it’s an opportunity to catch some sunlight? Those are things that we would certainly encourage, but, again, monitoring distance and also following the local Health Department and CDC’s recommendations. What does that look like in terms of isolation and quarantine? And make sure you’re following that. What we don’t want to do is go against those recommendations because these are truly the experts and we want to make sure that we adhere to their suggestions and recommendations. Communication is important. Preparedness is definitely important. Thinking about the elderly, the fragile, communication. I think those are all good things. Notifications, we mentioned, use of social media, healthy distractions, self-care. I mean, the only other piece is just stress management in general. I mean, we talked a little bit about that but, you know, where do people get their stress relief? And making sure that they’re doing those things. I think they need to titrate their attention to the media though too. We talk about the dose-response relationship in the field, which means the greater the exposure typically the stronger the impact of these experiences. And so, as much as we want to sit there in front of the television and take every single piece in, we have to also be careful with that because it can overwhelm us. And be cautious about who else is in the room. Our little children, those that may not quite understand the magnitude and scope—it can be overwhelming. I know I’ve talked to my own children, just in terms of, what do they hear? What are their concerns? And giving feedback to them in the age-appropriate language to ensure that what they’re hearing is not scaring them but rather informing them.
The news can be overwhelming.
Magill: Yeah, do something different. Turn it off. And, I know that’s hard but at the same time, where’s that healthy balance? But we talk about that. You know, I oversee our critical instance stress management team, and one of the things we developed that across UPMC is that we tell staff after a critical incident, be careful in what you are observing, whether it be in social media or even on other outlets. Because the more I watch things, the more I feel that exposure.
Interview conducted by Ivanhoe Broadcast News.
END OF INTERVIEW
This information is intended for additional research purposes only. It is not to be used as a prescription or advice from Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. or any medical professional interviewed. Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc. assumes no responsibility for the depth or accuracy of physician statements. Procedures or medicines apply to different people and medical factors; always consult your physician on medical matters.
If you would like more information, please contact:
Ashley Trentrock, Public Relations
UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
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