Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113167

Jerry Huffman¹, Christa-Marie Singleton, MD MPH¹, and Peter L. Beilenson, MD, MPH². (1) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, Baltimore City Health Department, 210 Guilford Avenue, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-361-9278, jerry.huffman@baltimorecity.gov, (2) Baltimore City Department of Health, 210 Guilford Ave., 3rd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202

Computer assisted models can aid public health preparedness and response by creating benchmarks for staff and materiel resources. However, existing academic and private sector creators of such models tend to be steeped in theory-based hypothesis, rather than be based upon actual experiences by and from real-life public health jurisdictional data. This particular project, created by public health staff, for public health staff, is a discrete event simulation model designed to aid in the analysis of a wide range of public health scenarios using historical health statistics data from a city (region). This program includes the following deliverables: modules of biological scenarios, chemical, nuclear, and natural disasters with the following outputs; queue statistics (average wait, longest wait, no wait); best-case options for facility utilization for responders, hospitals and other facilities that may impact upon public health; human factor statistics, identification of potential/likely logistics bottlenecks at response clinics/shelters, traffic routes with identification of the most efficient resolution options; insertion of unforeseen mini-scenarios; the ability to allow users to perform ad-hoc queries for various events, integration with GIS to provide a graphic summary of time/geography performance; and real-time animation and adaptability of scenarios as the events of the crisis unfold. This project is applicable to other public health agencies as it is a model for a jurisdiction to utilize a computer-based boilerplate model pre-loaded with their own stable baseline data so that the end user can modify public health variables and compute the impact of baseline changes to overall public health system performance.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Participants will be able to identify data elements to enhance their own public health system performance during an emergency
• 2) Participants will be able to create simulation models unique to their respective jurisdictions
• 3) Participants will be able to articulate elements needed for evaluation and modification of their individual jurisdictional emergency planning processes

Keywords: Geographic Information Systems, Models for Provision

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation