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Service Networks for Public Health and Medical Preparedness: Medical Countermeasures Dispensing and Large-Scale Disaster Relief Efforts

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Handbook of Operations Research for Homeland Security

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 183))

Abstract

A catastrophic health event, such as a terrorist attack with a biological agent, a naturally occurring pandemic, or a calamitous meteorological or geological event, could cause tens or hundreds of thousands of casualties, weaken the economy, damage public morale and confidence, create panic and civil unrest, and threaten national security. It is therefore critical to establish a strategic vision that will enable a level of public health and medical preparedness sufficient to address a range of possible disasters. Planning for a catastrophe involving a disease outbreak or mass casualties is an ongoing challenge for first responders and emergency managers. They must make critical decisions on treatment distribution points, staffing levels, impacted populations and potential impact in a compressed window of time when seconds could mean life or death. Some of the key areas of public health and medical preparedness include medical surge, population protection, communication infrastructure, and emergency evacuation. This chapter highlights our own experience on projects with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and various public health jurisdictions in emergency response and medical preparedness for mass dispensing for disease prevention and treatment and large-scale disaster relief efforts.

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Acknowledgments

Part of the material and results reported herein are based on our work in this area and interaction with public health agencies, and discussion with many state and federal public health and emergency response experts. While there are many people to thank in this multi-agency and multi-disciplinary collaboration, the authors would like to specially thank Dr. Jacquelyn Mason of the CDC, and Tom Tubesing, formerly of the CDC, Dr. Lawler and Dr. Mecher, formerly at the Homeland Security Council in the White House, William Glisson at ESi, Bernard Hicks at DeKalb Emergency Preparedness Department, and the many public health and emergency managers throughout the nation. We also acknowledge the funding from the CDC and Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Operations Research in Medicine and HealthCare, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, NSF I/UCRC Center for Health Organization Transformation, Georgia Institute of Technology, 755 Ferst Dr. NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0205, USA

    Eva K. Lee

  2. Strategic National Stockpile, Office for Public Health Preparedness Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ferdinand Pietz

  3. Global Disease Detection and Emergency Response, Center for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Bernard Benecke

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  1. Eva K. Lee
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  2. Ferdinand Pietz
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  3. Bernard Benecke
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Correspondence to Eva K. Lee .

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  1. , Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, Martin Hall Room 2181, College Park, 20742, Maryland, USA

    Jeffrey W. Herrmann

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Lee, E.K., Pietz, F., Benecke, B. (2013). Service Networks for Public Health and Medical Preparedness: Medical Countermeasures Dispensing and Large-Scale Disaster Relief Efforts. In: Herrmann, J. (eds) Handbook of Operations Research for Homeland Security. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 183. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5278-2_8

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