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Currents  Hurricane Floyd tested our weather emergency plan.  I was extremely pleased with the way Medical Center and university employees and management responded. You did an incredible job under very difficult circumstances. At our Sept. 21 communications meeting, Pam Cipriano, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, administrator for Clinical Services, Tom Keating, administrator for Children's Healthcare System and Support Services, Lisa Montgomery, administrator for Financial Services, and others gave examples of the outstanding job done during the emergency period and aftermath. The “A Team” did an excellent job providing clinical care and essential support during the emergency period. The “B Team” did a great job reporting promptly after the storm and working long hours. Our University Physical Plant and Hospital Maintenance and Environmental Services did a great job throughout the storm in dealing with leaking, flooding, blown windows, fire alarms, power and other critical support system issues. University Risk Management checked offices throughout the complex and recorded all damage to enable prompt follow-up with insurance claims.  Hospital Communications, which also handles calls for the College of Charleston and The Citadel, did an excellent job with a high volume of calls. Marketing Services Department did a great job handling media relations and MEDULINE. Outpatient Pharmacy filled a record number of prescriptions just before the storm.  Dietetic Services operated smoothly and cheerfully under heavy demands. CCIT provided continuous service throughout the storm. The Emergency Room was well prepared and even represented us on CNN. MEDUCARE and others did an outstanding job in transporting patients, including patients who transferred to the main hospital from CMH. NNICU, 5 East Nursery, 5 East Postpartum, 7A and 7B  Children's Hospital did an outstanding job moving and making special accommodations for babies and other patients.  Our Security Department dealt with a wide range of issues, ranging from keeping tabs on many visitors to getting people to shelters. Patient Accounting was up and running on the tenth floor of Harborview Tower immediately following the storm, even though workers had to sit under umbrellas while at their work stations. Many individuals deserve special recognition for their dedication and outstanding work. Unfortunately, I cannot list all of the outstanding deeds in this newsletter. Julie Adam, hospital services coordinator, was on duty during the emergency period. The following excerpt from her report provides a good summary. “Your teamwork, dedication and professionalism have been evident every step of the way, and your creativity, humor and kindness have made this bearable for all.” W. Stuart Smith Vice President for Clinical Operations Executive Director, MUSC Medical Center New Patient Identification Band Policy Vivian Gettys, JCAHO program manager, and Nina Epps, performance improvement coordinator for Laboratory Services, presented information about the new MUSC Medical Center Policy C-58 on patient identification bands. Epps reviewed the following highlights from the policy: All Medical Center staff are responsible for ensuring that identification bands are in place at all times. Patient Access Services staff will attach identification bands to inpatients who register in Patient Access Services. Patients who are directly admitted to a particular floor will receive temporary identification bands until the permanent band is received. Identification bands must not be applied to walls, beds, charts or clothes. Identification band removal is strongly discouraged. If removed, the band must be replaced as soon as possible. If a patient receives an incorrect identification band, the band must be replaced, and an occurrence report must be generated. All MUSC Medical Center policies can be accessed through the MUSC web page <http://www.musc.edu> under the patient care section.  Flu Vaccine Program Jodell Johnson, R.N., coordinator of Infection Control, encourages MUSC employees to get the flu vaccine, which is up to 80 percent effective in fighting the flu.  She emphasized that the vaccine will not give anyone the flu, although side effects might include fever, achiness, and swelling or soreness at the injection site for one or two days.  Medical Center employees can get the flu vaccine on Wednesdays from October to December, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Infection Control Office, located in room 281 of the main hospital. Infection control practitioners will travel to units to administer the vaccine to employees during the evenings of Oct. 11 and Nov. 1, and nights of Oct. 21 and Nov. 19. They also will travel to units on the weekends of Oct. 9 and 10, and Oct. 16 and 17. Additionally, infection control practitioners will contact managers to schedule time during staff meetings to give vaccines. Medical Center contract employees should go to their health care providers to receive the flu vaccine. University employees should get the flu vaccine at Carolina Center for Occupational Health, located at 158 Rutledge Ave. UMA employees will receive a schedule of information about where they should go to get the flu vaccine. Announcements Audix The Audix upgrade has been rescheduled for Sept. 30.  StatLAN David Northrup, director of CCIT Healthcare Computing Services, encourages MUSC staff to visit  <http://emerald.musc.edu/> to learn more about the StatLAN retirement plan, as well as how to get Oacis and Windows95 training.  STAR Edit Process Managers and directors who need information about the STAR hazardous weather edit process should contact John Cooper, director of Finance.