Immunization
Smallpox
Immunization Main Page
General
Fact Sheets on Terrorist Attacks
6/8/05
The National Academies is preparing, in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, fact sheets on four types of terrorist attacks: Biological, Chemical, Radiological, and Nuclear. These fact sheets will be helpful to anyone looking for a clear explanation of the fundamentals of science, engineering, and health related to such attacks.
DHS National Response Plan
1/6/05
The National Response Plan establishes a comprehensive all-hazards approach to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents. The plan incorporates best practices and procedures from incident management disciplines—homeland security, emergency management, law enforcement, firefighting, public works, public health, responder and recovery worker health and safety, emergency medical services, and the private sector—and integrates them into a unified structure. It forms the basis of how the federal government coordinates with state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector during incidents.
Regional Public Health Bioterrorism Exercise
12/22/04
In October 2004, Metro Portland, Oregon’s Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington County Health Departments collaborated with public and private organizations throughout the tri-county region to conduct a major bioterrorism exercise. Its purpose was to exercise and evaluate the region’s epidemiological investigatory capabilities, regional collaboration and communications during a major event, and the use of Incident Command System and the draft Regional Public Health Emergency Response Plan. The exercise documents, elements of the regional plan, and two videos (including a 10 minute documentary) of the clinic operation are available for download.
Checklists on Legal Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies
12/21/04
Three new checklists are available for state and local public health departments to use in assessing their legal preparedness for bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. The checklists focus on: 1) local public health legal preparedness and response, 2) interjurisdictional legal coordination, and 3) civil legal liability. The Center for Law and the Public's Health developed these tools based on consultation with public health agencies and the Center's own familiarity with public health emergency law.
Three Checklists for Self-Assessment of Legal Preparedness for PH Emergencies
Public Health Emergency Response Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Public Health Directors
11/09/04
An all-hazards reference tool for health professionals who are responsible for initiating the public health response during the first 24 hours (i.e., the acute phase) of an emergency or disaster. It provides useful information on the activation and integration of a jurisdiction’s public health system into the existing overall emergency response structure during the acute phase of an incident. It also contains guidance that may be unique to specific types of incidents, such as floods, earthquakes, and acts of terrorism. The guide is not a substitute for emergency preparedness activities and is not intended to replace existing emergency operations plans, procedures, or guidelines within a jurisdiction’s health department. It is consistent with the doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology, and organizational processes in the National Response Plan (NRP) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
Redefining Readiness: Terrorism Planning Through the Eyes of the Public
09/15/04
On September 14, 2004, the New York Academy of Medicine released the findings of its newest study, Redefining Readiness: Terrorism Planning Through the Eyes of the Public. This year-long study gave the American people their first opportunity to describe how they would react to two kinds of terrorist attacks: a smallpox outbreak and a dirty bomb explosion. The study found that only two-fifths of the American people would follow instructions to go to a public vaccination site in a smallpox outbreak and only three-fifths would stay inside an undamaged building other than their home after a dirty bomb explosion.
Press Release on HHS Awards $849 Million to Improve Public Health Preparendess
06/17/04
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced an additional $849 million in awards to states, territories, and four major metropolitan areas to strengthen the ability of government and public health agencies to respond to bioterror attacks, infectious diseases and natural disasters. FY 2004 awards from the Public Health Preparedness and Response Cooperative Agreement are also listed in this press release.
Local Variation in Public Health Preparedness: Lessons from California
06/02/04
Since September 2001 Congress has allocated approximately $3 billion to strengthen the public health infrastructure. To achieve this goal, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allocates funding to states, which distribute funds to local jurisdictions. Evidence-based measures to assess public health preparedness are lacking. We used an expert-panel process to develop performance measures, based on the ten essential public health services. We developed and conducted tabletop exercises in California to evaluate preparedness to detect and respond to a hypothetical smallpox outbreak based on those measures. There was wide variation of readiness in California. While the sources of variation are often different, common infrastructure gaps need to be addressed.
Web Courses
Public Health Emergency Law Course
8/10/05
CDC’s Public Health Law Program and CDC’s Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response are pleased to announce the availability of the new, CDC-developed course “Public Health Emergency Law (PHEL).” The core of the course is six PowerPoint lecture units aimed primarily at non-lawyer professionals in public health and emergency management organizations, as well as first responders, students, and others active in public health emergency preparedness. For detailed information about the PHEL, contact McKing Consulting at (770) 220-0608 or by email at wbradford@mcking.com or wrushing@mcking.com. McKing also has available copies of a CD-ROM that contains all of the course’s components.
Illinois Public Health Preparedness Center Free Online Courses
6/6/05
The following courses are now being offered by the Illinois Public Health Preparedness Center. All courses run in a continuously available, completely online, instructor-led, self-paced format at no cost to registrants.
- The Public Health 101 curriculum (PH 411-414) covers the basics of what public health is and how it works and is intended for front line public health workers who have had no previous formal education or training in public health.
- The Bioterrorism Preparedness 101 curriculum (PH 461 and PH 462) addresses public health roles in emergency preparedness and response activities, with an emphasis on bioterrorism preparedness and response. This curriculum also targets front line public heath workers.
JohnsHopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Free Online Courses
4/25/05
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has launched the initial phase of its OpenCourseWare project, which provides free and open access to some of the School's most popular courses. The courses are available through the Internet to students, self-learners and educators anywhere in the world. OpenCourseWare differs from the Bloomberg School of Public Health's distance-learning initiatives because it does not involve an active exchange of information between faculty and students and because courses are not offered for credit, towards degrees or certificates. Currently, five courses are available: “Understanding Cost Effectiveness Analysis in Health Care,” “Statistical Reasoning in Public Health,” “Family Planning Policies and Programs,” “Problem Solving for Immunization Programs,” and “History of Public Health.” Five additional courses are expected to be online by the end of April 2005. The School hopes to add 75 to 100 courses in the next five years.
Terrorism, Preparedness, and Public Health: An Introduction
02/28/05
The School of Public Health at the University of Albany is offering this course to help public health workers understand their role in emergency response in a range of potential or possible emergencies and to recognize unusual events that might indicate an emergency and describe appropriate action. A minor focus is the chain of command in emergency response. Participates who engage in all lessons of the course and who successfully complete the exam (80% or higher within two tries) will be eligible for 6 hours CME/CHES or 7.2 hours CNE. The course is free and open to the public.
Crisis and Risk Communication Web Course
11/22/04
In July of 2003, the Michigan Department of Community Health Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP) hosted a one and a half-day Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication training for public health emergency preparedness coordinators, health officers, medical directors, and public information officers. Barbara Reynolds, M.A., an expert on this topic at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, led the training. To share the learning opportunity with others across the nation, OPHP filmed the training and created a web course from the footage. Potential users are encouraged to register for this course through TRAIN (www.train.org).
Federal Programs
CDC: Emergency Preparedness and Response Program
CDC: Emergency and Terrorism Preparedness for Environmental Health Practitioners
