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.Program
goal
Strengthen our public
health system: What we do to prepare for possible acts of
terrorism, prepares us to meet other large-scale public health threats.
.Approach
Local action – The Department
of Health distributes
the major portion of grant money to local partners including health
agencies and hospitals.
Regional coordination and resource sharing – Our state coordinates
local efforts through nine public health emergency preparedness and
response regions. A lead local health jurisdiction and a coordinator
within each region help local agencies write local plans and linked
regional plans.
Partnership – Through formal agreements and an inclusive planning
process, the program encourages involvement at all levels--local, state,
national, and cross-border. The Department of Health works closely with partners from public
health, hospitals, clinics, law enforcement, emergency response, the
military, and more. |
Although, public health has always been concerned with emergency planning,
the emergence of new public health threats—including
bioterrorism—requires us to be prepared to respond quickly to a wide
variety of threats on a potentially large scale.
Program funding
Our state's Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (PHEPR)
program is preparing public health and health care systems to respond to
incidents of bioterrorism, outbreaks of infectious disease or other health
emergencies. The program is funded by the:
The Washington State Department of Health
administers the PHEPR program in our state. DOH began receiving HRSA and CDC funding in
mid-2002. Current grant funding continues through August 30, 2004.
Initial grant
activities
Program accomplishments during 2002-2003 include:
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Determined
how prepared we are through assessments of public health and hospital readiness.
-
Worked
closely with public health partners
to begin creating local and regional preparedness plans.
-
Worked to
connect partners with compatible, secure communication systems
and to provide more than one way to communicate in an emergency
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Held
smallpox vaccination clinics
–
established a core group to provide essential health services during and
outbreak. Trained for possible mass vaccinations
-
Added
epidemiologists
at at the state level and
in every region to encourage accurate, timely reporting of
communicable diseases
-
Prepared
state Public Health Laboratories to handle bioterrorism samples
– added equipment, arranged for partner labs to provide surge capacity,
trained staff
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Provided
specialized bioterrorism and emergency training around the state
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Provided
preparedness information to the public and prepared to communicate in a crisis using general public hotline, Web site, presentations, materials, and
risk communications training
-
Built
relationships with new partners including police and emergency management, and the military, and
strengthened relationships with local public health
2003-2004: Building on
what we have done
During the current grant year, the program will:
-
Complete
local and regional response plans
-
Improve our
ability to detect, report, and investigate disease outbreaks -- in every
county, every day, around the clock
-
Prepare our
laboratories to test for chemical agents that might be used in a terrorist
attack
-
Continue
training of mass-vaccination teams
-
Prepare
hospitals to handle large numbers of casualties. Add isolation, and
quarantine facilities, biohazard suits and decontamination units. Improve
communications and labs
-
Communicate
with, and involve all people in our state including tribes, special
populations, clinics and community health centers, and our partners
outside of our state borders
Program organization
Program activities are carried out by teams that focus on the following
areas:
Planning and
readiness (focus area A):
Assess the
emergency preparedness of state and local agencies, and hospitals and
create effective response plans
Surveillance and epidemiology (focus area B): Develop ability to
immediately identify potential outbreaks of disease, and rapidly
investigate and share information about them
Biological laboratory capacity (focus area C): Ensure that there
are sufficient laboratory facilities, staff and resources to quickly and
accurately identify threats.
Chemical laboratory capacity (focus area D): Build
laboratory capacity to analyze samples originating from a suspected
chemical attack or incident.
Information technology/Health Alert Network (focus area E): Ensure
that public health agencies, hospitals and other partners can share
information securely during an emergency.
Risk communications (focus area F): Provide the public with
timely, reliable and useful information before, during and after an
emergency.
Education and training (focus area G): Prepare public
health workers, health care providers and others to respond effectively
during any public health emergency.
Hospital preparedness (funded by HRSA Grant):
Build a
hospital system that is capable of responding to any large-scale public
health emergency.
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