Preparedness Reports and Other Resources

Below are selected publications and websites with information on public health preparedness and emergency response.

CDC Publications

• The National Strategic Plan for Public Health Preparedness and Response. (2011)
  Led by Dr. Ali S. Khan and the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, preparedness leaders internal and external to CDC have collaboratively developed The National Strategic Plan for Public Health Preparedness and Response. The plan is a guide for CDC, the entire public health system, and its stakeholders to secure the health of the nation and attain the plan’s collective 2020 vision of "people’s health protected – public health secured".

• Public Health Preparedness: 2011 Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning (2011).
  Highlights preparedness progress and trends; features national-level data and individual fact sheets for the 50 states and 4 localities supported by CDC’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement.

• Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening the Nation's Emergency Response State by State (2010)
  Features national-level data and individual fact sheets on preparedness activities taking place in the 50 states and 4 localities supported by CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement.
• Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening CDC's Emergency Response (2009)
  Describes CDC's significant preparedness accomplishments, the diversity of challenges that remain, and priorities for ongoing and future work.
• Public Health Preparedness: Mobilizing State by State (2008)
  Highlights preparedness progress and some of the challenges facing public health departments in 50 states and four major cities.

Non-CDC Publications

• Public health preparedness and response in the USA since 9/11: a national health security imperative.
  Dr. Ali S. Khan (Director of CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response) details progress and challenges in public health preparedness and response since the 2001 attacks. The article was included in a special 9/11 10-year anniversary issue of Lancet in September 2011. [Khan AS. Public health preparedness and response in the USA since 9/11: a national health security imperative. Lancet 2011; 378: 953–56]
• Remembering 9/11 and Anthrax:  Public Health’s Vital Role in National Defense (2011). This report by Trust for America's Health (a nonprofit, non-partisan organization) includes more than 30 accounts by public health officials who were on the ground in response to 9/11 and anthrax, including many colleagues at CDC.
• Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism (2010). This annual report by Trust for America's Health (a nonprofit, non-partisan organization) ranks states' abilities to respond to a public health emergency according to 10 preparedness indicators, four of which are based on data from PHPR's 2010 state by state report.
• Medical Countermeasure Dispensing: Emergency Use Authorization and the Postal Model (2010). A summary of a November 2009 IOM workshop on current threats, progress made in the public health system regarding the distribution and dispensing of countermeasures, and remaining vulnerabilities.
• The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE) (2010). Summary of an April 2010 IOM workshop that addressed challenges facing PHEMCE.
• Research Priorities in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Public Health Systems: A Letter Report (2008)

Related Federal Links

• CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response
  Information on CDC's role in preparedness and response to public health threats, funded programs, current emergencies, blog, state fact sheets
• PandemicFlu.gov
  U.S. government avian and pandemic flu information.
• Assistant Secretary for Preparedness & Response (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
  Numerous links from the entity that coordinates interagency activities for emergency preparedness.
• National Response Framework (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
  Comprehensive structure for responding to all types of hazards.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Public Health Emergency Preparedness Information (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
  Research projects, tools, resources, and webcasts.

Related Non-federal Links

• Center for Biosecurity (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center)
  Features news, reports, and other publications on biosecurity issues.
• Institute of Medicine Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events
  Fosters dialogue among stakeholders and provides ongoing opportunities to discuss and confront issues.
• Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness
  A gateway to freely available online resources for the public health community, from the New York Academy of Medicine and the National Library of Medicine.