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Defining the Times

2007 Spring Dialogues

A New Structure for Emergency Preparedness
Kevin Yeskey, MD, Acting Director, Office of Preparedness and Emergency Operations and Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

In a post-Katrina environment, the federal government has created a new structure for emergency preparedness in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dr. Yeskey identified how the new structure, established by the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, will reduce vulnerability in emergencies by:

  1. Creating a single point of emergency preparedness in HHS;
  2. Solidifying the nation's infrastructure of health professional volunteers by setting standards for local Medical Reserve Corps and linking existing state volunteer verification systems into a single national network of state-level systems, called ESAR-VHP, to credential and register health professionals;
  3. Enfolding drug delivery into the national disaster delivery system, just as drug development, licensing, and stockpiling are overseen federally by the NIH, FDA, and CDC;
  4. Enabling the development of core public health and medical response curricula and training through the CDC as well as consultation with other public and private experts.

Dr. Yeskey emphasized the role of academic health centers in developing formularies and response plans, as well as incorporating core public health and medical response curricula that will train the next generation of emergency professionals.

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