Rhode Island's Plan to Enhance, Implement, and Sustain An All-hazards Food Emergency Response Team

RI Department of HealthTitle: Food Protection Rapid Response Team (RRT) (U18)Funding Opportunity Announcement Number (FOA): RFA-FD-15-020Project Summary/AbstractBase Award: The Rhode Island Department of Health proposes to enhance and maintain the capabilities oftheir all-hazards food emergency Rapid Response Team (RRT) and continue to identify and eliminatefoodborne illness hazards that pose a threat nationally. The team will continue to conform to the RRT BestPractices and plans to advance to Phase 3 of the Capability Building Process by ensuring that all requiredSOPs are documented, followed, and updated as required. Additional staff will be integrated into the RRTconcept and trained to ensure effective response and sustainability over time. The team will continue tocollaborate closely with the Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, State Health Laboratory, RIDepartment of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture, other state partners and federal partners toimprove the effectiveness of multi-agency responses and reduce the burden of food related illnesses.Specifically, the RRT aims to improve the use of a Unified Command structure to ensure effective responseand communication among these parties during emergency response. Innovative approaches in investigatingthe cost-effectiveness of listeria case follow-up and responding to food recall events are proposed to helpothers' respond effectively during related events. Other activities planned include mentoring a non-fundedRRT, performing environmental assessments, calculating performance metrics, and incorporating the findingsof After Action Reviews into continuous plans for improvement. These activities will ensure the capabilities theRRT has gained will continue to advance and are sustained beyond this funding cycle.Elective Funding Opportunity: In support of the coming FDA produce regulations, the RRT aims to betterunderstand the extent to which domestic and imported produce contributes to Salmonella and Campylobacterillnesses in Rhode Island and nationally. This will be achieved by identifying, classifying, and ranking RhodeIsland Farms as high versus low risk and sampling high risk products throughout the year. Staff will be trainedin farm environmental assessments and a systems approach will be followed to ensure effective long-termcontrols are in place. In support of these initiatives, we will work closely with the FDA District Office to sharebest practices to reduce the time it takes to identify positive samples, gather the necessary tracebackdocumentation, and implement effective control measures.