Database Identifies Local Special Needs Population

Ernest Hemingway appreciated the virtues of a clean, well-lighted place.

Marshall Nelson would settle for a good, clean database.

For years, Gulf County's Emergency Management director has compiled a database of the county's special needs residents, with names provided by area health care providers.

The database enables Emergency Management to identify those requiring transportation to special needs shelters in the event of a natural disaster.

But sifting through names in a database that is rarely updated has proven a challenge for Marshall and his staff.

Many listed in the database have moved, died or should have never been classified as special needs in the first place.

What Nelson seeks is a "good clean database that has all the correct information."

In achieving that goal, Nelson will be helped immeasurably by Florida State University's Center for Disaster Risk Policy.

Chris Floyd, the Center's Project Development Manager, invited Gulf County to become one of three Florida sites to participate in the Special Population Information Registry (SPINREG) Program.

During a Nov. 13 meeting at the Emergency Management office, Floyd asked area healthcare providers to begin entering special needs client information into a web-based national database.

Floyd assured the providers that the application meets Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines for online applications.

"We are very concerned about confidentiality of private records," said Floyd, who described several built-in confidentiality features.

Representatives from health care providers including home health care and hospice must first log onto the website to request authorization from Emergency Management.

When granted access, the healthcare providers will return to the site to create passwords.

Each agency will only be allowed to review its own client records, and not those of other providers.

Emergency Management and the Department of Health (DOH), which is responsible for the care of special needs residents during their stay in an evacuation shelter, will have the highest level access.

The database allows providers, Emergency Management and DOH to view comprehensive medical records for special needs individuals.

Each client profile contains an address, phone number, next of kin, emergency contact, information on pets, medications, physicians, pharmacies, dietary requirements and medical equipment requiring electricity.

The database also contains fields listing a wide range of medical conditions, such as insulin-dependent diabetes, Alzheimer's, dementia and others.

"It's as comprehensive as we could make it, based on what's acceptable in a special needs shelter, using standardized terms," said Floyd, who worked closely with the Florida State College of Medicine.

The database generates reports and client cards and has a unique mapping feature similar to Goggle Earth.

The mapping feature will help Nelson plan for evacuations, with all clients listed on a single map.

The nearest special needs shelter is in Marianna. According to Nelson, the hour-and-a-half drive can take anywhere from four to six hours during an evacuation.

"The map will eliminate duplicate trips," said Nelson. "During evacuations, you need to save as much time as possible."

The client cards will help DOH more easily register special needs residents upon their arrival at the Marianna shelter.

When the website goes live in January, caregivers and the general public will be able to enroll qualified special needs individuals into the database.

For now, Floyd has asked area providers to continue posting their client information online.

FSU will test the system during a simulated hurricane event on Nov. 25.

Nelson, who has whittled the Emergency Management database to less than 200, will be able to compare his list against the SPINREG database in January.

Nelson believes that only around 50-75 residents meet state special needs requirements.

Of that total, less than a dozen will require transport to a special needs shelter.

Nelson urged all residents to visit the website floridadisaster.org and complete the steps for a Family Disaster Plan.

The plan allows families to have preparations in place in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster.