Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Local Public Health Preparedness Improved Since September 11

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 19:36:33 -0500

Local Public Health Preparedness Improved Since September 11, But Challenges
 Remain According to NACCHO Study

WASHINGTON, Oct 31, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- One year after the tragedies of Sept.
11 and subsequent
anthrax outbreaks, local public health agencies (LPHAs) report making significant progress
in their bioterrorism preparedness.
LPHAs play a critical role in overall community emergency readiness. They are improving
their readiness for bioterrorism, as
well as other public health threats and emergencies, with such activities as staged
emergency drills, acquisition of new skills,
increased community collaboration, and improved technology. Despite this progress,
however, the nation is not uniformly
prepared and challenges remain. An Issue Brief released today by the National Association
of County and City Health Officials
(NACCHO) details these findings.

The brief highlights anecdotes collected from 342 local health officials in 44 states.
When asked two open-ended questions: 1)
How is your community better prepared than on September 11, 2001, and 2) What challenges
remain, their varied responses
reflect the diverse communities in which they serve ranging from less than 25,000 to
nearly a million people.

    The most frequent outcomes include:

    *  Development of working relationships with other first responders in the
       community, such as doctors, hospitals, police and fire departments.
       Said one local health official from the state of Florida: "Before 9/11,
       we didn't know our partners.  Now we are on their Nextel list."  While
       communities have begun collaborating, all first responders must
       understand their own roles and the roles of other agencies in an
       emergency.

    *  Development and implementation of trainings and exercises.  Whereas
       almost one-half of respondents indicated either that they had completed
       some bioterrorism training or would offer such training in the near
       future, others cited finding the time to develop and implement
       trainings a challenge.

    *  One quarter of responding agencies have improved their technology and
       equipment and now have such items as high-speed Internet access,
       disease surveillance systems, upgraded computers, and wireless
       communications equipment.

    *  Many stated that their current staff size is insufficient to enable
       them to dedicate new time to planning, education, and coordination for
       bioterrorism preparedness while also maintaining levels of effort in
       other areas.

    *  The need for sustainable funding was mentioned often.  Many respondents
       have been reluctant to add permanent staff due to lack of ongoing
       funding, and others were experiencing budget cuts imposed by states and
       localities.  In addition, a few respondents indicated that they are no
       farther ahead in bioterrorism preparedness and may actually be farther
       behind because of increasing drains on public health resources.

"This anecdotal information demonstrates the progress and challenges that lie ahead for
LPHAs as they prepare for acts of
bioterrorism," said Patrick M. Libbey, executive director of NACCHO. "While it is clear
that the nation is near the beginning of
a large, multi-year task to achieve uniform national preparedness, the time and dollars
spent on this will serve multiple purposes.
Sustained investment in national resources for bioterrorism preparedness is critical
because it will yield dividends in better public
health protection for every community."

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