Date: Oct. 7 – 10, 2013
Staff Representative: Jack Herrmann and Scott Fisher
Member Representative: N/A
Highlights: The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) convened its ninth meeting of the state health department directors of public health preparedness. The meeting included several presentations from members on their state health department’s response and lessons learned from recent public health emergencies, including the Boston Marathon bombings, tornadoes in Oklahoma, and the fertilizer plant explosion in Texas. Many of the challenges and lessons learned were similar to other emergencies that have occurred over the past several years, so there is an opportunity for NACCHO and ASTHO to examine how state and local health departments are incorporating lessons learned into future preparedness and response planning.
Attendees also discussed the rollout of the National Health Security Preparedness Index (NHSPI). ASTHO expects to publicly launch the NHSPI in early December, and plans to develop some talking points and other materials to prepare state and local health departments to discuss the results.