The Changing Face of Preparedness: How Research Helps Build and Sustain Public Health Capacity for Disaster Response

Wednesday February 18th, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Room: Grande Ballroom

Plenary

Session Number:

Welcome and Introductions:

Jack Herrmann, MSEd, NCC, LMHC
National Association of County & City Health Officials

Sustainable Public Health Preparedness and Response Systems: The Role of Research

This plenary session will present an overview of the Centers for Disease Control programs that address public health preparedness requirements outlined in The “Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act” Legislation (PAHPA). More specifically, information will be shared highlighting the CDC’s partnership with the Institute of Medicine and how its report, “Research Priorities in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Public Health Systems: A Letter Report” was instrumental in creating a program to address the PAHPA directive for public health systems research to address gaps in public health preparedness and response capabilities.

Presenters from the CDC and its three newly funded Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers, Emory University, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of North Carolina, will discuss planned studies for “creating and maintaining sustainable public health preparedness and response systems”

Presenters:

Mildred Williams-Johnson, PhD, DABT
CAPT, U.S. Public Health Service
Director, Extramural Research Program
Science and Public Health Practice Office (CDC/COPTER)

Ruth L. Berkelman, MD
Rollins Professor and Director
Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
Center for Public Health Preparedness and Research

Margaret A. Potter, JD
Associate Dean & Director, Center for Public Health Practice
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh

Jennifer Horney, MA, MPH, CPHG, PhD candidate
Assistant Project Director
NC Center for Public Health Preparedness & NC Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center
NC Institute for Public Health, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

 

Preparing for the Unthinkable

Thursday February 19th, 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Room: Grande Ballroom

Plenary

Session Number:

Keynote speaker Amanda Ripley is a senior writer at TIME Magazine, and has traveled the world studying disasters, natural and man made. Her book, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why, is the first mass-market book to explain how the brain works in disasters—and how we can learn to do better.

 

 

Hurricane Ike: Public Health Surge Amid a Rising Tide

Friday February 20th, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Room: Grande Ballroom

Plenary

Session Number:

On September 13, 2008, at 2:10 am CDT, Hurricane Ike hit the east end of Galveston, TX as a Category 2 hurricane with winds of 110 mph, causing multiple deaths and destruction throughout the Gulf Coast area. More than 5 million people were directly affected. Local, state, and federal responders and officials were fully engaged in operational planning and response to minimize death and destruction and to optimize recovery throughout the region. During this plenary session, key responders from the health sector will reflect on the region’s public health preparedness and response. Special issues related to medical special needs populations and health care facility evacuation and recovery will be addressed. The federal, state, and local interface will be explored. Presenters will provide their unique operational perspectives from responding to Hurricane Ike.

Facilitator:

Scott R. Lillibridge, MD
Director - National Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness and Response
Assistant Dean, Texas A&M Health Science School of Rural Public Health
Professor of Epidemiology
Texas A&M Health Science Center

Panel:

Sandra Guerra-Cantu, MD, MPH
Regional Medical Director - Health Service Region 8
Texas Department of State Health Services

Lori Upton, RN, BSN, MS, CEM
Assistant Director Emergency Management
Texas Childrens Hospital, Houston Texas

Jon T. Perez, PhD
Team Leader, US Public Health Service Disaster Mental Health Team II

Harlan "Mark" Guidry, MD, MPH
CEO/Health Authority for Galveston County and Cities
Galveston County Health District

 

Funding for this activity provided by the Department of Health and Human Services-Public Health Service-Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) through the Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program (BTCDP) at Texas A&M Health Science Center.