Strengthening National Public Health Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Biological and Radiological Agent Threats
Strengthening National Public Health Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Biological and Radiological Agent Threats

Author: C.E. Cummings

Publisher: IOS Press

Published: 2007-06-29

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 1607502453

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Ensuring a coordinated public health, laboratory, and medical response to a natural disaster, an accidental release or a deliberate use of a chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) agent is a high priority for all countries. This publication contains the proceedings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Advanced Study Institute (ASI). The ASI, and this publication, provides NATO and its allies with ways to enhance their national preparedness and response plans to CBR threats. The recommendations should be of interest to clinicians, researchers, and other scientists motivated by special interest in public health preparedness, as well as by national and NATO leaders and policy makers who are positioned to make a difference. Public health response to emergencies requires extensive, coordinated, considered efforts of the combined military and civilian public health resources of all NATO nations and NATO Partner nations.

Are We Ready?
Are We Ready?

Author: David Rosner

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2006-09-11

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 0520940474

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A contemporary history of a critical period, Are We Ready? analyzes the impact of 9/11, the anthrax attacks that followed, and preparations for a possible smallpox attack on the nation's public health infrastructure. David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz interviewed local, state, and federal officials to determine the immediate reactions of key participants in these events. The authors explore the extent to which these emergencies permanently altered the political, cultural, and organizational life of the country and consider whether the nation is now better prepared to withstand another potentially devastating attack. This well-reasoned and well-researched book presents compelling evidence that few with hands-on experience with disease and emergency preparedness believe that an adequate response to terrorism—whether biological, chemical, or radiological—is possible without a strong and vibrant infrastructure to provide everyday services as well as emergency responses. Are We Ready? begins with an examination of the experiences of local New York officials who were the first responders to 9/11 and follows them as events unfolded and as state and national authorities arrived. It goes on to analyze how various states dealt with changing federal funding for a variety of public health services. Using oral histories of CDC and other federal officials, the book then focuses on the federal reaction to 9/11 and anthrax. What emerges is a picture of dedicated public servants who were overcome by the emotions of the moment yet who were able to react in ways that significantly reduced the public anxiety and public health threat. Despite the extraordinary opportunity to revitalize and reinvigorate the nation’s public health infrastructure, the growing federal and state budget deficits, the refocusing of national attention on the war in Iraq, and the passage of time all combined to undermine many of the needed reforms to the nation’s public health defenses. Copub: Milbank Memorial Fund

Exploring Medical and Public Health Preparedness for a Nuclear Incident
Exploring Medical and Public Health Preparedness for a Nuclear Incident

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-06-05

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 0309489172

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop on August 22â€"23, 2018, in Washington, DC, to explore medical and public health preparedness for a nuclear incident. The event brought together experts from government, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the private sector to explore current assumptions behind the status of medical and public health preparedness for a nuclear incident, examine potential changes in these assumptions in light of increasing concerns about the use of nuclear warfare, and discuss challenges and opportunities for capacity building in the current threat environment. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Key Planning Factors for Recovery from a Chemical Warfare Agent Incident
Key Planning Factors for Recovery from a Chemical Warfare Agent Incident

Author: Donna Edwards

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The United States has made significant progress in building and sustaining its national preparedness (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 2011) against the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to the security of the country. However, a wide-area chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) incident will pose serious challenges for recovery of the contaminated region. As noted in the National Preparedness Goal (NPG) (FEMA, 2011), recovery requires timely restoration, strengthening, and revitalization of infrastructure; implementation of long-term housing solutions; a sustainable economy; and strengthening of the health, social, cultural, historic, and environmental fabric of communities affected by the incident (FEMA, 2011). Fulfilling these requirements during a wide-area CBR incident will be challenging and complex.

Public Health Response to Biological and Chemical Weapons
Public Health Response to Biological and Chemical Weapons

Author: World Health Organization

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2004-01-21

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 9241546158

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is the second edition of this publication which focuses on the public health aspects of the possible deliberate use of biological or chemical agents. Issues discussed include: the key principles for public health planning, risk assessment, hazard identification and evaluation, risk management strategies, and response planning as part of existing national emergency plans, disease surveillance and early warning systems, the national and international legal framework, and international sources of assistance. Technical annexes cover a range of issues including chemical agents, toxins, biological agents, principles of protection, precautions against the sabotage of drinking water, food and other products, information resources and the affiliation of WHO Member States to the international treaties on biological and chemical weapons.

Preparing for Terrorism
Preparing for Terrorism

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-07-11

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 0309169364

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) program of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides funds to major U. S. cities to help them develop plans for coping with the health and medical consequences of a terrorist attack with chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) agents. DHHS asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to assist in assessing the effectiveness of the MMRS program by developing appropriate evaluation methods, tools, and processes to assess both its own management of the program and local preparedness in the cities that have participated in the program. This book provides the managers of the MMRS program and others concerned about local capabilities to cope with CBR terrorism with three evaluation tools and a three-part assessment method. The tools are a questionnaire survey eliciting feedback about the management of the MMRS program, a table of preparedness indicators for 23 essential response capabilities, and a set of three scenarios and related questions for group discussion. The assessment method described integrates document inspection, a site visit by a team of expert peer reviewers, and observations at community exercises and drills.

National Preparedness
National Preparedness

Author: U.s. Government Accountability Office

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2017-08-04

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 9781974233618

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

" The nation remains vulnerable to terrorist and other threats posed by CBRN agents. Medical countermeasures-drugs, vaccines, and medical devices-can prevent or treat the effects of exposure to CBRN agents, and countermeasures are available in the SNS for some of these agents. Children, who make up 25 percent of the population in the United States, are especially vulnerable because many of the countermeasures in the SNS have only been approved for use in adults. HHS leads the federal efforts to develop and acquire countermeasures. GAO was asked about efforts to address the needs of children in the event of a CBRN incident. This report examines (1) the percentage of CBRN medical countermeasures in the SNS that are approved for pediatric use; (2) the challenges HHS faces in developing and acquiring CBRN medical countermeasures for the pediatric population, and the steps it is taking to address them; and (3) the ways that HHS has addressed the dispensing of pediatric medical countermeasures in its emergency response plans and guidance, and ways that state and local governments have addressed this issue. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed relevant laws, agency documents, and reports, and interviewed HHS officials, industry representatives, and subject-matter experts. GAO also reviewed a stratified sample of emergency response plans from seven state and seven local governments, based"