Homeland Security and Public Health: Role of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Department of Homeland Security, and Implications for the Public Health Community

2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi L. Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Department Of Veterans Affairs ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
The Public ◽  
National Response ◽  
Response Plan ◽  
National Disaster ◽  
Primary Mission

AbstractThe terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 led to the largest US Government transformation since the formation of the Department of Defense following World War II. More than 22 different agencies, in whole or in part, and >170,000 employees were reorganized to form a new Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with the primary mission to protect the American homeland. Legislation enacted in November 2002 transferred the entire Federal Emergency Management Agency and several Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) assets to DHS, including the Office of Emergency Response, and oversight for the National Disaster Medical System, Strategic National Stockpile, and Metropolitan Medical Response System. This created a potential separation of “health” and “medical” assets between the DHS and HHS. A subsequent presidential directive mandated the development of a National Incident Management System and an all-hazard National Response Plan.While no Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) assets were targeted for transfer, the VA remains the largest integrated healthcare system in the nation with important support roles in homeland security that complement its primary mission to provide care to veterans. The Emergency Management Strategic Healthcare Group (EMSHG) within the VA's medical component, the Veteran Health Administration (VHA), is the executive agent for the VA's Fourth Mission, emergency management. In addition to providing comprehensive emergency management services to the VA, the EMSHG coordinates medical back-up to the Department of Defense, and assists the public via the National Disaster Medical System and the National Response Plan.This article describes the VA's role in homeland security and disasters, and provides an overview of the ongoing organizational and operational changes introduced by the formation of the new DHS. Challenges and opportunities for public health are highlighted.

Learning Outcome Measurement in Nurse Participants After Disaster Training

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 728-733
Author(s):  
Sharon L. Farra ◽  
Sherrill Smith ◽  
Marie A Bashaw
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Outcome Measurement ◽  
Disaster Medicine ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Disaster Training ◽  
National Disaster

AbstractObjectiveThe National Disaster Health Consortium is an interprofessional disaster training program. Using the Hierarchical Learning Framework of Competency Sets in Disaster Medicine and Public Health, this program educates nurses and other professionals to provide competent care and leadership within the interprofessional team. This study examined outcomes of this training.MethodsTraining consisted of a combination of online and on-site training. Learning outcomes were measured by using the Emergency Preparedness Information Questionnaire (EPIQ) pre/post training and participant performance during live functional exercises with the use of rubrics based on Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation principles.ResultsA total of 64 participants completed the EPIQ before and after training. The mean EPIQ pre-training score of 154 and mean post-training score of 81 (reverse-scored) was found to be statistically significant by paired t-test (P<0.001). Performance was evaluated in the areas of triage, re-triage, surge response, and sheltering. Greater than 90% of the exercise criteria were either met or partially met. Participants successfully achieved overall objectives in all scenarios.ConclusionsDisaster response requires nurses and other providers to function in interprofessional teams. Educational projects, like the National Disaster Health Consortium program, offer the potential to address the need for a standardized, interprofessional disaster training curriculum to promote positive outcomes. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 6)

scholarly journals EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION: AT ZERO HOUR

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 18-23
Author(s):  
V. Balamuralidhara ◽  
Vaishnav A.M. ◽  
Bachu V. ◽  
Pramod Kumar T.M.
Keyword(s):  
Homeland Security ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Test Device ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
The Public ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Us Fda

The Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) authority plays a vital role in US FDA. They provide the authority/permission to use the unregistered products/registered product with unregistered route to treat the life threatening damages to the patients in world in some emergency conditions. The aim of this work is to give an overview on EUA in life threatening conditions and there challenges in getting the permissions under regulations with example of E-bola virus. The e-bola is a virus. It is a hemorrhagic fever deadly disease caused by one of the E-bola viral strain, which is wide spread in West Africa. The -Secretary of the Department of homeland security (DHS), determined, pursuant to section 319F-2 of the Public Health Service Act, that the Ebola virus presents a material threat against the United States population sufficient to affect national security. Issuance of EUA by the FDA Commissioner requires several steps under section 564 of the FD&C Act. The FDA Commissioner, can only issue the EUA, if criteria for issuance under the statute are met. This study’s highlights the importance of the EUA in emergency when there is no medicine for disease/virus in the world. For example the FDA has issued a EUA to use the ReEBOV which is the Rapid Antigen Test device designed by Lusys lab co. Pvt. Ltd. for detecting the Zaire Ebola virus.

Agents of Care

Germ Wars ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Control And Prevention

Following 9/11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks, the U.S. government enlisted the public health industry in homeland security and defense, bringing weapons like disease surveillance and life science research to the war against terrorism. As Congress poured out funding for bioterrorism preparedness, agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rearranged themselves around new logics of biosecurity. In the decade after 9/11, CDC brought its surveillance, science, and communication practices to bear on questions of national security, and became a federal organizing agency for emergency response and pharmaceutical stockpile stewardship. The political transformations at the CDC exemplify how bioterrorism changed the role of government in disease management, along with the specific work of the nation’s largest public health agency.

The future of emergency management

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane A. Bullock ◽  
George D. Haddow
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Organizational Changes ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
The Past ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
Us Federal Government

The discipline of emergency management (EM) is at a critical crossroads. Emergency managers around the world are faced with new threats, new responsibilities, and new opportunities. This paper examines the organizational changes made by the US federal government in shaping the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and presents three key lessons learned during the past decade that could guide emergency planners as they design and manage EM organizations of the future.

scholarly journals (A62) Real World Event Data Collection and Analysis for after Action Reporting

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S1) ◽  
pp. s17-s18
Author(s):  
J. Schlegelmilch ◽  
J. Paturas ◽  
R. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Real World ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Response Evaluation ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Response Information

BackgroundIn response to recent real world events impacting public health and medical services, The Yale New Have Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response (YNH-CEPDR) has developed a methodology for collection and analysis for after action reporting of response operation effectiveness. This process has been implemented to multiple real-world events including the 2009/2010 H1N1 response activities. This method utilizes the US Department of Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) doctrine for the collection of response information, analysis and development of After Action Reports.ObjectivesIn this session, participants will be introduced to data collection methods that include a combination of onsite response evaluation by subject matter experts applying a set of established operational response objectives, targeted web-based surveys collecting both qualitative and quantitative data regarding public health and medical staff opinions regarding response operations and achievement of objectives. Also introduced will be focus group interviews to determine response successes, opportunities and recommendations for improvement. This session will also provide an overview on the utilization of additional data sources including situational status reports, press releases, incident action plans and meeting minutes. In additional to providing a framework for developing a comprehensive After Action Report for a real-world response, this process can yield data that can be used to enhance ongoing response operations as well as to support anticipated response operations, such as applying lessons from one pandemic wave to the next. During the session, participants will be provided an opportunity to discuss their process for evaluating real-world events and to identify how this methodology can be integrated into their organization's response evaluation activities.

Public Sector Agencies and Their Formal Legal and Administrative Responsibilities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley D. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
Public Agency ◽  
Administrative Guidance ◽  
National Preparedness

Public sector agencies at all levels of government work to mitigate risk, prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters, and recover from catastrophic events. This action is guided by a national emergency management system that has evolved over time and was most recently reformed post-Hurricane Katrina. There is an extensive set of federal guidelines by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that serve to structure the national system of hazard management. These include: the National Preparedness Goal; the National Preparedness System; National Planning Frameworks and accompanying Federal Interagency Operational Plans (FIOPs); the National Preparedness Report; and the Campaign to Build and Sustain Preparedness. Despite the considerable institutional and administrative guidance, there remain critical gaps in public-agency natural hazard management. These include lack of quality planning on the subnational level, insufficient local fiscal and human capital, and inconsistent regulation of the recovery process. While stricter implementation of federal mandates may partly address some of these issues, others will require greater political will in order to enact zoning regulations, create a shift in the acceptance of risk, and ensure that solutions are afforded by partnerships between civil, economic, and public entities.

scholarly journals Katrina, Rita, Challenger and Columbia: Operationalizing a Knowledge Analytic in NASA and DHS Crises

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Terence Michael Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Management ◽  
Homeland Security ◽  
Federal Emergency Management Agency ◽  
Department Of Homeland Security ◽  
Management Agency ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
Political Differences ◽  
Hurricanes Katrina And Rita ◽  
Executive Level

Recent and past problems with the NASA shuttle program are illustrative of decisionmaking problems centered at the executive level of knowledge on the organizational pyramid. The poor responses to hurricanes Katrina and Rita by executives at all levels of government, but particularly with regard to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), also bear scrutiny. These catastrophic incidents, beyond the obvious partisan/political differences and the physical and psychological devastation, are demonstrative of management failures in their respective organizations. The author argues that the key to unlocking the conundrum of management failure rests with the fact that multiple knowledges exist in modern organizations like NASA, DHS, and FEMA and the use and development of the knowledge analytic offers new theoretical insights for understanding managerialcrises.

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