Hospital and Public Health Preparedness
Assistance from the US Centers for Disease Control

The Bureau of Emergency Management’s Bioterrorism Preparedness Section administers the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Cooperative Agreement Grants.

Funds are provided to upgrade state and local public health jurisdictions’ preparedness for and response to bioterrorism and other new and emerging health risks associated with mass trauma, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) incidents. A well-planned, rapid, and effective response is critical to saving lives. To achieve this mission the CDC, in conjunction with HRSA and the US Department of Homeland Security, has developed 9 Preparedness Goals: Prevent, Detect/Report, Investigate, Control, Recover, and Improve. The Preparedness Goals are intended to measure urgent public health system response performance for terrorism and non-terrorism events including infectious disease, environmental and occupational related emergencies.

The activities described in the two grants are designed to develop emergency-ready public health departments in accord with the US Department of Homeland Security’s Interim National Preparedness Goal (NPG), the Interim Public Health and Healthcare Supplement to the NPG, and the CDC Preparedness Goals.

The major components of the CDC Grant include:

1. All-Hazards Planning: Ensure statewide readiness, interagency collaboration, local and regional preparedness (both intrastate and interstate) for bioterrorism, other outbreaks of infectious disease, and other public health threats and emergencies.
2. Surveillance and Epidemiology Capacity: Enable health departments to enhance, design, and/or develop systems for rapid detection of unusual outbreaks of illness that may be the result of bioterrorism, other outbreaks of infectious disease, and other public health threats and emergencies.
3. Laboratory Capacity-Biologic Agents: Ensure that core diagnostic capabilities for bioterrorist agents are available in State public health laboratories. This will enable the State laboratory to develop the capability to conduct rapid and accurate diagnostic and reference testing for select biologic agents likely to be used in a terrorist attack.
4. Laboratory Capacity-Chemical Agents: Ensure that core diagnostic capabilities for bioterrorist agents are available at the state public health laboratories. This will enable the State laboratory to develop the capability to conduct rapid and accurate diagnostic and reference testing for select chemical agents likely to be used in a terrorist attack.
5. Health Alert Network/Information Technology: Enable the State to establish and maintain a network that will:
   1. support exchange of key information and training over the Internet by linking public health and private partners on a 24/7 basis;
   2. provide for rapid dissemination of public health advisories to the news media and the public at large;
   3. ensure secure electronic data exchange between public health partners’ computer systems; and
   4. ensure protection of data, information, and systems, with adequate backup, organizational, and surge capacity to respond to bioterrorism and other public health threats and emergencies.
6. Risk Communication: Ensure that there is an effective risk communications capacity that provides for timely information dissemination to citizens during a bioterrorist attack, outbreak of infectious disease, or other public health threat or emergency. This includes training for key individuals in communication skills, the identification of key spokespersons (particularly those who can deal with infectious diseases), printed materials, timely reporting of critical information, and effective interaction with the media.
7. Education and Training: Enhance the capacity to:
   1. assess the training needs of key public health professionals, infectious disease specialists, emergency department personnel, and other healthcare providers related to preparedness for and response to bioterrorism, other outbreaks of infectious disease, and other public health threats and emergencies, and
   2. ensure effective provision of needed education and training to key target audiences through multiple channels, including academic institutions, healthcare professionals, CDC, HRSA, and other sources.

For more information on the CDC Cooperative Agreement: www.bt.cdc.gov