Medical Epidemiology
 
Search Site

Other Links

medepi Email

Emergency Readiness

Public Health Preparedness & Emergency Response

Tomás Aragón, MD, DrPH

PH 257B: Public Health Preparedness & Emergency Response is a one semester, intensive introduction to public health emergency preparedness and response, and covers the following topic areas: the role of public health in disasters; natural disasters and severe weather; intentional mass threats (CBRNE); biosurveillance: detecting and monitoring public health threat; post-disaster sampling, surveys, and rapid needs assessments; public health emergency incident management system; emergency operations planning and exercises; infectious disease emergency readiness; environmental health emergency readiness; mental health emergency readiness; special needs and vulnerable populations; public health crisis leadership and risk communication; conducting outbreaks investigations; disaster medicine and mass casualty care; and personal and community disaster preparedness.

Contents

  1. 1 Public Health Preparedness & Emergency Response
  2. 2 Course syllabus
  3. 3 Textbooks or Technical Guidelines
  4. 4 Readings
    1. 4.1 Overview and the role of public health in disasters
    2. 4.2 Natural disasters and Intentional mass threats
    3. 4.3 Public health emergency incident management system (Cindy Lambdin)
    4. 4.4 Infectious disease emergency readiness (Tomas Aragon, Erica Pan)
    5. 4.5 Emergency management systems, planning, and exercises (Michael Petrie)
    6. 4.6 Public health ethics in disaster preparedness and response (Harvey Kayman)
    7. 4.7 Environmental health threats after chemical disasters (Rupali Das)
    8. 4.8 Post-disaster sampling, surveys, and rapid needs assessments (Wayne Enanoria)
    9. 4.9 Disaster mental health preparedness and response (Jeff Coady)
    10. 4.10 Planning for mass care and sheltering (Howard Backer)
    11. 4.11 Disaster preparedness for vulnerable populations (Ana-Marie Jones)
    12. 4.12 Essentials of crisis leadership and crisis risk communication (Tomás Aragón)
    13. 4.13 Personal and community disaster preparedness
  5. 5 Key web sites
  6. 6 Miscellaneous topics
    1. 6.1 Legal preparedness for public health emergencies

Course syllabus

  • Public Health 257B: Public Health Preparedness & Emergency Response syllabus (Download PDF)
  • For OPEN BOOK FINAL EXAM, please review readings with [*] marking.

Textbooks or Technical Guidelines

  • Lindell MK, Prater CS, Perry RW, Nicholson WC. Fundamentals of Emergency Management. FEMA, 2006 (Download page)
  • Trust for America's Health, T. Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, 2007 Trust for America's Health, 2008 (Download page)
  • Abdallah, S. & Burnham, G. Public Health Guide for Emergencies. The Johns Hopkins and Red Cross / Red Crescent, 2006 (Download PDF)
  • Department of Homeland Security, National Response Framework Resource Center: (Download page)
  • Pan American Health Organization, Natural Disasters: Protecting the Public's Health, 2000 (Download page)

Readings

Overview and the role of public health in disasters

  • [*] Introduction, Sections 1, and Section 6 from: Trust for America's Health, T. Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, 2007 Trust for America's Health, 2008 (Download page)
  • Noji EK, Toole MJ. The historical development of public health responses to disaster. Disasters. 1997 Dec;21(4):366-76. (PMID: 9455008)
  • [*] Noji EK. Public health issues in disasters. Crit Care Med. 2005 Jan;33(1 Suppl):S29-33. (PMID: 15640676)
  • [*] Noji EK. Public health in the aftermath of disasters. BMJ. 2005 Jun 11;330(7504):1379-81. Review. (PMID: 15947402)
  • Noji EK. Disasters: Introduction and state of the art. Epidemiol Rev. 2005;27:3-8. (PMID: 15958421)
  • [*] Nelson C, Lurie N, Wasserman J. Assessing public health emergency preparedness: concepts, tools, and challenges. Annu Rev Public Health. 2007;28:1-18. Review. (PMID: 17129174)
  • [*] Nelson C, Lurie N, Wasserman J, Zakowski S. Conceptualizing and defining public health emergency preparedness. Am J Public Health. 2007 Apr;97 Suppl 1:S9-11. Epub 2007 Apr 5. (PMID: 17413078)
  • Lurie N, Wasserman J, Nelson CD. Public health preparedness: Evolution or revolution? Health Aff (Millwood). 2006 Jul-Aug;25(4):935-45. (PMID: 16835172)
  • [*] Moore S, Mawji A, Shiell A, Noseworthy T. Public health preparedness: A systems-level approach. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007 Apr;61(4):282-6. Review. (PMID: 17372286)
  • [*] Barnett DJ, Balicer RD, Lucey DR, Everly GS Jr, Omer SB, Steinhoff MC, Grotto I.  A systematic analytic approach to pandemic influenza preparedness planning.  PLoS Med. 2005 Dec;2(12):e359. Epub 2005 Nov 1. Review. (PMID: 16255619)

Natural disasters and Intentional mass threats

  • [*] Lindell MK, Prater CS, Perry RW, Nicholson WC. Chapter 5: "Principal Hazards in the United States" in Fundamentals of Emergency Management. FEMA, 2006 (Download page)
  • [*] Redmond, A. D. Natural disasters. BMJ, 2005, 330, 1259-1261. (PMID: 15920130)
  • Videos:
    • KPIX Television. Oakland Hills Firestorm. KPIX 1991 (View video)
    • CDC. The History of Bioterrorism (video). CDC 2005 (View video)

Public health emergency incident management system (Cindy Lambdin)

  • [*] Annelli JF. The national incident management system: A multi-agency approach to emergency response in the United States of America. Rev Sci Tech. 2006 Apr;25(1):223-31. Review. (PMID: 16796051)
  • [*] Kristine Qureshi, Kristine M. Gebbie, Eric N. Gebbie. Public Health Incident Command System (PHICS): Implementing ICS Within Public Health Agencies (Download page)

Infectious disease emergency readiness (Tomas Aragon, Erica Pan)

Overview
  • [*] Aragon TJ, Reingold A. Chapter 1: Epidemiologic Concepts for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases. In. Essential Field Epidemiology.
Bioterrorism
  • [*] Inglesby TV, O'Toole T, Henderson DA, et al. Anthrax as a biological weapon, 2002: updated recommendations for management. JAMA. 2002;287(17):2236-52. Erratum in: JAMA 2002 Oct 16;288(15):1849. (PMID: 11980524)
  • Arnon SS, Schechter R, Inglesby TV, et al. Botulinum toxin as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. JAMA. 2001;285(8):1059-70. Erratum in: JAMA 2001 Apr 25;285(16):2081. (PMID: 11209178)
  • Henderson DA, Inglesby TV, Bartlett JG, et al. Smallpox as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. JAMA. 1999 Jun 9;281(22):2127-37. (PMID: 10367824)
  • Borio L, Inglesby T, Peters CJ, et al. Hemorrhagic fever viruses as biological weapons: medical and public health management. JAMA. 2002;287(18):2391-405. (PMID: 11988060)
  • Inglesby TV, Dennis DT, Henderson DA, et al. Plague as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. JAMA. 2000;283(17):2281-90. (PMID: 10807389)
  • Audi J, Belson M, Patel M, Schier J, Osterloh J. Ricin poisoning: a comprehensive review. JAMA. 2005;294(18):2342-51. (PMID: 16278363)
  • Dennis DT, Inglesby TV, Henderson DA, et al. Tularemia as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. JAMA. 2001;285(21):2763-73. (PMID: 11386933)
Natural epidemics

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
  • [*] Svoboda T, Henry B, Shulman L, et al. Public health measures to control the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome during the outbreak in Toronto. N Engl J Med. 2004 Jun 3;350(23):2352-61. (PMID: 15175437)
Pandemic influenza
  • PandemicFlu.gov --- U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information. (Visit home page)
HIV/AIDS
  • International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Disasters Report 2008 - Focus on HIV and AIDS (Download page)
  • Frieden TR, Das-Douglas M, Kellerman SE, Henning KJ. Applying public health principles to the HIV epidemic. N Engl J Med. 2005 Dec 1;353(22):2397-402. No abstract available. (PMID: 16319391)
Threats after disasters
  • Waring SC, Brown BJ. The threat of communicable diseases following natural disasters: a public health response. Disaster Manag Response. 2005;3(2):41-7. (PMID: 15829908)
  • Ivers LC, Ryan ET. Infectious diseases of severe weather-related and flood-related natural disasters. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2006;19(5):408-14. (PMID: 16940862)
Infection control and prevention
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recommendations for postexposure interventions to prevent infection with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, or human immunodeficiency virus, and tetanus in persons wounded during bombings and other mass-casualty events--United States, 2008: recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MMWR Recomm Rep. 2008 Aug 1;57(RR-6):1-21; quiz CE1-4. (PMID: 18668022)

Emergency management systems, planning, and exercises (Michael Petrie)

  • [*] Michael Petrie (slides): Verifying Emergency Preparedness Capabilities using Exercises (Download PDF Handout)
  • Michael Petrie (slides): Introduction to Emergency Management Systems (Download PDF Handout)
  • [*] Lindell MK, Prater CS, Perry RW, Nicholson WC. Chapter 1: "Introduction to Emergency Management" in Fundamentals of Emergency Management. FEMA, 2006 (Download page)
  • Lindell MK, Prater CS, Perry RW, Nicholson WC. Chapter 2: "Emergency Stakeholders" in Fundamentals of Emergency Management. FEMA, 2006 (Download page)
  • Lindell MK, Prater CS, Perry RW, Nicholson WC. Chapter 3: "Building an Effective Emergency Management Organization" in Fundamentals of Emergency Management. FEMA, 2006 (Download page)

Public health ethics in disaster preparedness and response (Harvey Kayman)

  • [*] Harvey Kayman (slides). Ethical Challenges to Disaster Planning and Response (Download PDF Handout)
  • [*] Harvey Kayman. A Summary Toolbox for Public Health Ethics (Download PDF)
  • Thompson AK, Faith K, Gibson JL, Upshur RE. Pandemic influenza preparedness: an ethical framework to guide decision-making. BMC Med Ethics. 2006 Dec 4;7:E12. (PMID: 17144926)
  • Kass NE. An ethics framework for public health and avian influenza pandemic preparedness. Yale J Biol Med. 2005 Oct;78(5):239-54. (PMID: 17132331)

Environmental health threats after chemical disasters (Rupali Das)

  • Rupali Das (slides). Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response: Occupational and Environmental Health Issues (Download PowerPoint slides)
  • Brackbill RM, Thorpe LE, DiGrande L, Perrin M, Sapp JH 2nd, Wu D, Campolucci S, Walker DJ, Cone J, Pulliam P, Thalji L, Farfel MR, Thomas P. Surveillance for World Trade Center disaster health effects among survivors of collapsed and damaged buildings. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2006 Apr 7;55(2):1-18. (PMID: 16601667)
  • Lin S, Reibman J, Bowers JA, Hwang SA, Hoerning A, Gomez MI, Fitzgerald EF. Upper respiratory symptoms and other health effects among residents living near the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. Am J Epidemiol. 2005 Sep 15;162(6):499-507. Epub 2005 Aug 17. (PMID: 16107572)
  • Cone JE, Wugofski L, Balmes JR, Das R, Bowler R, Alexeeff G, Shusterman D. Persistent respiratory health effects after a metam sodium pesticide spill. Chest. 1994 Aug;106(2):500-8. (PMID: 7774327)

Post-disaster sampling, surveys, and rapid needs assessments (Wayne Enanoria)

  • al-Sekait MA, Bamgboye EA, al-Nasser AN. Sampling in epidemiological research: a case study of the prevalence of brucellosis in Saudi Arabia. J R Soc Health. 1992 Aug;112(4):172-6. (PMID: 1433149)
  • Malilay J. Public health assessments in disaster settings: Recommendations for a multidisciplinary approach. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2000 Oct-Dec;15(4):167-72. Review. (PMID: 11227604)
  • Hlady WG, Quenemoen LE, Armenia-Cope RR, Hurt KJ, Malilay J, Noji EK, Wurm G. Use of a modified cluster sampling method to perform rapid needs assessment after Hurricane Andrew. Ann Emerg Med. 1994 Apr;23(4):719-25. (PMID: 8161038)

Disaster mental health preparedness and response (Jeff Coady)

  • McGuinness KM, Coady JA, Perez JT, Williams NC, McIntyre DJ. Public Mental Health: The Role of Population-Based and Macrosystems Interventions in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 2008; 39(1):58-65. (Download PDF)
  • Perez JT, Coady J, de Jesus EL, McGuinness KM, Bondan S. Operation Unified Assistance population-based programs of the U.S. Public Health Service and International team. Mil Med. 2006;171(10 suppl 1):53-58. (PMID: 17447625)

Planning for mass care and sheltering (Howard Backer)

  • Emergency Support Function #6 – Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing, and Human Services (Download PDF)

Disaster preparedness for vulnerable populations (Ana-Marie Jones)

  • [*] Ana-Marie Jones (slides). Vulnerable Populations in Emergency Planning---The Prepare to Prosper Approach. (Download PDF Handout)
  • Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Public Health Workbook to DEFINE, LOCATE, and REACH Special, Vulnerable, and At-Risk Populations in an Emergency [v1, rev18] (Download PDF)

Essentials of crisis leadership and crisis risk communication (Tomás Aragón)

  • [*] Aragón T. Step 7 (Communicating Findings) in Conducting an Outbreak Investigation in 7 Steps (or less) --- A Quick Reference Guide (Download PDF).
  • [*] Glik DC. Risk communication for public health emergencies. Annu Rev Public Health. 2007;28:33-54. Review. (PMID: 17222081)
  • [*] Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (Web site)
    • [*] Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (Online course)
    • Review Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication: By Leaders For Leaders (Download PDF)

Personal and community disaster preparedness

  • [*] Read and complete (from www.72hours.org): How would you survive for 72 hours? (Download PDF)

Key web sites

  • Pan American Health & World Health Organizations, Health Library for Disasters, (Visit site)
  • Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Emergency Preparedness and Response (Visit site)
  • Agency for Health Care Research & Quality, Public Health Emergency Preparedness (Visit site)
  • Department of Health & Human Services, Pandemic influenza preparedness (Visit site)
  • Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (Visit site)

Miscellaneous topics

Legal preparedness for public health emergencies

  • CDC. Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness (Web site)
  • Benjamin GC, Moulton AD. Public health legal preparedness: a framework for action. J Law Med Ethics. 2008 Spring;36(1 Suppl):13-7. (PMID: 18315746)