Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jodi M. Kuhn, DrPH, MPH, CRA, Inc. (Health Preparedness Group), 4401 Ford Avenue, 6th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22302, 703-562-0247, jkuhn@cra-usa.net

As public health professionals strive to fulfill ‘all-hazards' emergency response roles and responsibilities, resources should be dedicated to evaluating and improving plans and preparedness efforts. Many health departments are now focusing on evaluating their capacity and capabilities to effectively activate their Emergency Operations Plan in a major public health emergency. Exercises provide an opportunity to gather critical information about the degree to which key operational elements are in place to safeguard a community's health during a disaster or emergency.

Planning, preparedness, and response issues identified from selected public health exercises will be reviewed. Exercise results provide a look at the status and capabilities of emergency response operations within health departments at the state, regional, and local level. Issues identified relate to command and control, resource availability and prioritization, surge capacity, communications, isolation and quarantine measures, and more.

Exercise issues and improvement strategies used by several public health leaders and organizations will be explored within the context of better preparedness and response for disasters, terrorism threats, and other potential health emergencies.

Learning Objectives: