Public Health Practices

Stakeholders formed partnerships, created tools, and expanded the Seattle region's capacity to ensure continuity of care for opioid treatment patients during a disaster.

Building new partnerships, including with large retail chains, helped Texas dramatically expand its options for distributing antiviral medications during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

The Center for Public Health Practice (OH CPHP) at The Ohio State University College of Public Health held several community engagement meetings on controversial subjects related to pandemic planning: social distancing and mass fatality management. These community engagement meetings were planned prior to the emergence of H1N1, yet most of them were carried out when H1N1 was becoming present in communities across Ohio and the United States.

The Public Health Emergency Exercise Toolkit was developed by the Columbia University School of Nursing to guide local public health agency staff in conducting emergency drills and exercises. The overarching goals of the toolkit are to aid local public health planners in 1) developing, implementing, and evaluating emergency drills and exercises, and 2) facilitating the public health aspects of larger, multiagency emergency exercises.

Four Midwestern states held a tabletop to test their ability to communicate with each other during an emergency.