SPRING 2020
BULLETIN
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY FOR MINNESOTA FUNERAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS
State Emergency Operations Center Creates Online COVID-19 Dashboard The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) Fatality Management Branch has created an online dashboard to assist those who are responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. This dashboard is available to view and interact with and will share the following information: •
Cold storage usage and capacity across Minnesota – this information is completely dependent upon Funeral Homes and Medical Examiners Offices updating their data.
•
Crematory capacity across Minnesota
•
Total COVID-19 cases and deaths in Minnesota
•
Ventilator and ICU status broken down regionally (coming soon) – this is to assist County and State Emergency Management to prepare for surge
•
Supplies status broken down by Medical Examiner Office and Funeral Home – this is for situational awareness and will help provide everyone with needs analysis and resource issues
•
Facility status mapped and represented to indicate each location’s status (at capacity, near capacity, etc.)
This dashboard will be used by a large number of people to help in preparedness and response duties. The dashboard is targeted for use by Tribal, City and County Emergency Management, the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association, Local and Tribal Public Health, Funeral Directors, Minnesota Department of Health, the State Emergency Operations Center and anyone else who may be involved in fatality management planning during the COVID-19 response.
Although this may seem like a large ask, we hope that all involved will see the value in the “Fatality Management Daily Status Update” and will begin, or continue to complete the update each day. It will help this collective group out immensely.
For the planning to be most effective, it is essential that we get as updated information as we possibly can. Funeral Directors and Medical Examiners Offices have been asked to submit daily responses to update our records.
Access to the COVID-19 Fatality Management Dashboard is available through the daily report emails to funeral homes, or you can access it in the members-only MFDA Online Community on www.mnfuneral.org.
Inside: How the MFDA Online Community can be a valuable resource.
Change Service Requested Minnesota Funeral Directors Association 7046 East Fish Lake Road Maple Grove, MN 55311
MFDA Bulletin