NEMA after-action report details interstate coordination efforts (Region: WY, NE, CO, KS)

A tabletop exercise tested the ability of four bordering states to communicate with each other and manage a pandemic influenza outbreak before an emergency was officially declared. The exercise assessed inter-state relationships across broad issue areas, including surveillance, command and control, risk communications, and resource coordination. Although the exercise goals were ambitious, the facilitators created a forum to identify gaps and next steps for establishing an incident command structure between Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas. The after-action report may be useful to states that will be managing a multi-state response, since pandemic influenza may require that proximate states act in concert to control the outbreak and mitigate fear and misinformation.