State Health Department’s Emergency Response Efforts Viewed as Model
August 22, 2007—Denver— This month, the Office of
Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment was rated in the
top 25 percent of states by U.S. Centers for Disease
Control for the state’s readiness to receive, distribute and
dispense
assets of the Strategic National Stockpile in the event of a
national
health emergency. Colorado’s overall preparedness rating of
90 percent
placed it in the top quarter of all the states. “This is
an important achievement in our state's emergency
preparedness, and I want to thank and congratulate everyone
in the
Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response who assisted
in reaching
this benchmark,” said Ned Calonge, chief medical officer
with the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The Strategic National Stockpile Program, operated by
CDC, will deliver
large amounts of vital drugs, vaccines, medical equipment
and supplies
to the site of a national emergency such as a natural
disaster,
terrorist attack or disease outbreak. The CDC rating
emphasized interagency planning and exercise collaboration.
Colorado’s efforts include planning with the National Guard,
as well as emergency management and law enforcement
officials. In July 2006, more than 40 employees of the
Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment, along with 40 volunteers,
participated in
a three-state emergency preparedness exercise with CDC. This
was the
largest such exercise staged by the center and involved the
movement of
more than 250 pallets of antibiotics from the federal
government’s
Strategic National Stockpile to Colorado. The exercise was
part of ongoing efforts by states and the federal
government to prepare for all-hazards emergencies on U.S.
soil. As part
of the drill, the department activated its crisis management
center and
involved the Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response
Committee
in coordinating the state’s response to a hypothetical
terrorist
attack. The committee was created under legislation passed
in 2000 to
help the state prepare for possible emergency epidemics. The
approximately 20-member committee includes representatives
from state
and local health agencies, as well as other state agencies,
including
the attorney general’s office. In related news, the
University of Minnesota’s project on
Strengthening State and Local Public Health Preparedness has
selected
pandemic planning preparedness materials prepared by the
Colorado’s
Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response to be included
on its Web
site of resource materials for other state and local public
health
partners. --30-- |
