Oral

Seven years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and three years after Hurricane Katrina, questions must still be raised about America’s degree of disaster preparedness. This session will focus on a range of topics relevant to building our capacity to deal with future acts of terrorism or natural disasters. We will focus on the needs of vulnerable populations after a disaster. The failure to have planned effectively was revealed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. Workforce issues must be addressed in planning for an effective disaster response, and we will discuss issues around the participation of hospital staff. Dispensing prophylactic medications is essential to bioterrorism preparedness, and we will discuss issues around effectively accomplishing this task. Finally, we will discuss track record of the federal Homeland Security Advisory System (the five level color-coded threat assessment) in helping people make judgments about potential threats.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be better able to: • Assess the best measures for identifying disaster-related social vulnerability • Analyze reasons that hospital-based workforce may not report for duty following a disaster • Determine the most important limitations to dispensing mass prophylaxis in cities • Describe and assess the communicative value of the Homeland Security Advisory System • Understand the use of the Incident Command System in response to public health emergencies

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing