NACCHO’s Project Public Health Ready (PPHR) is currently seeking national reviewers for the Fall 2017 review of local health department applications. PPHR is a criteria-based training and recognition program that assesses local health department (LHD) capacity and capability to plan for, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies. PPHR aims to protect the public’s health and strengthen the public health infrastructure by equipping local health departments with sustainable tools to plan, train, and exercise using a continuous quality improvement model. Reviewers volunteer to assess applicant’s plans against the PPHR criteria and provide expert feedback.
Serving as a PPHR reviewer is a great opportunity to learn about innovative practices in preparedness, network with colleagues from across the nation, while supporting the local public health preparedness community. LHD staff are ideal candidates for this role as they provide a breadth of knowledge and experience in public health preparedness vital to a successful PPHR review process.
PPHR reviewers work on a three-person team to assess emergency response plans from two agencies applying for PPHR recognition (or three agencies applying for re-recognition) and determine each applicant’s level of compliance with the PPHR criteria. This process generally requires approximately 50 hours of work over five weeks, plus additional time for reviewer training and brief conference calls with your team. Reviewers are also required to attend one in-person meeting, which is scheduled for the week of October 16, 2017 . The meeting location will be finalized in the coming weeks. NACCHO will cover in-person meeting expenses for reviewers including travel, accommodations, and meals. Additional details regarding the review process timeline are included in the Fall 2017 PPHR Review Calendar, which can be accessed in the reviewer application survey (see link below).
Interested applicants are asked to complete a brief (5-10 minute) online survey by COB Wednesday, July 12, 2017. Click here to complete the survey now. Please note, that due to a larger pool of PPHR applicants, NACCHO is seeking a higher number of reviewers than in past years. However, applicants will still need to meet certain qualifications, and should be aware that survey completion does not guarantee automatic selection as a reviewer. Finally, NACCHO urges members, partners, and other stakeholders to share this opportunity with others who possess public health preparedness expertise and may be interested in volunteering as national reviewers. For more information, please contact the NACCHO PPHR team at [email protected].
