Emergency Alerts

On February 23, 2006, the state of Nebraska hosted a conference in which U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and other government officials addressed the issue of Avian Bird Flu. The Governor's office worked with the network to broadcast this conference through the network to over 70 sites.

Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, Governor Dave Heineman and Senator Chuck Hagel join Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt in signing an agreement stating that Nebraska will make pandemic flu a priority in state planning.

Emergency Alerts

One task of the Nebraska Statewide Telehealth Network is to provide a communication vehicle that allows the governor, lieutenant governor, chief medical officer and/or Health and Human Services director to directly address nearly 100 hospitals, public health departments and health labs in the event of a natural, man-made or terrorist emergency.
Telehealth creates a venue that allows more complete information to be given to everyone at one time with the capability of showing pictures, videos or actual examples of the emergent situation. For example, if the emergency was an outbreak of disease causing skin lesions, the lesions could actually be shown in detail over the system.

On February 23, Secretary Leavitt and other government officials addressed the issue of Avian Bird Flu and the potential for a pandemic should it begin to spread via human to human transmission. This presentation, which took place in Lincoln, NE, was broadcast to over 70 telehealth sites throughout Nebraska, showing the capability of telehealth to convey important emergency information, had this been an emergency situation.

Testing of the Health Alert Network over telehealth began in May, 2006 and will continue on a routine basis.