Emergency Preparedness for Public Health Agencies
Your organization is responsible for keeping people safe in a future health emergency.
But you may be short-staffed or just don’t have the bandwidth to fulfill that mission.
The world has changed as new threats emerge and new preparedness priorities and policies are enacted. State and local health departments may need to rely heavily on their own plans, stockpiles, personnel, and established local networks when facing future public health emergencies, rather than expecting significant external support immediately. How do you adjust your preparedness plans to respond to this dynamic environment?
You’re expected to address a wide variety of considerations as part of public health emergency preparedness. But how do you make the most impact?
The time is now to strengthen and update preparedness plans to include detailed immediate response strategies.
Your staff is busy with a myriad of high-priority functions. It makes sense to reach out to an expert who can help you update, optimize, and test your plan’s contents and effectiveness.
Health Preparedness Partners assists public health and other organizations in conducting research, updating preparedness plans, conducting exercises, and more.
Dr. Lisa Koonin brings subject matter expertise from her work at the CDC, and her interactions with health organizations around the globe.
She keeps her ear to the ground every day, anticipating and studying emerging trends to keep the organizations she works with ahead of the curve.
The support you need is now available when you need it.
Know more, and do more, with more confidence.
How we help
Updating Preparedness Plan
While much was learned during COVID-19, some organizations have not integrated those key lessons in their preparedness plans. The realities of the recent pandemic demonstrate that plans must be refreshed to meet the needs of a future public health emergency. Funders expect that plans will be updated to include the ‘lessons learned’ from past events.
Plus, the world has changed since 2020. As other global health threats have evolved, so have the assumptions and strategies of national and international authorities.
Although no one can predict the timing, severity and pathogen that will cause the next widespread outbreak, Dr. Lisa Koonin and Health Preparedness Partners can provide a planning framework that focuses on the future, and includes lessons learned from the past. When you include the scope and nature of multiple potential health threats in plans, you can be better prepared.
Planning and Guidance for Exercises
No matter how much effort is put into public health emergency preparedness, those plans are merely documents until they’ve been put to the test.
What bottlenecks might keep the plans from being fully deployed? Where could communications break down? Do all staff know their roles and responsibilities during an emergency? Have critical response internal and external partnerships been made/maintained? What factors were simply unaccounted for?
Realistic exercises and simulations are the only way to pressure test response plans, and Dr. Koonin and her team can inform exercise planning for any scenario, both large and limited in scope.
Public health agencies are often required by funders to conduct exercises — does your organization have the bandwidth to fulfill that obligation?
The Health Preparedness Partners team has decades of experience developing, conducting and evaluating all types of exercises. These experts can support your organization by collaborating with you to plan and facilitate exercises that meet your requirements and those of your sponsors.
Services Include:
• Providing emergency preparedness and response consultation
• Informing preparedness plan updates
• Developing, facilitating and evaluating exercises
• Informing strategic planning for establishing new partnerships
• Developing updated communications
• And much more
You know your priorities. We can help achieve them.
We can assist with new projects, or update and augment what you’ve already done.
You’ll find Dr. Koonin and her team to be responsive, hands-on, and flexible.
All services are collaborative, and customized for your requirements.
Virtual, on-site, or hybrid working arrangements are available.
Up-front cost proposals are scaled to fit your budget and requirements.
Holding an event on public health emergency preparedness?
Dr. Lisa Koonin, respected global authority and former CDC leader, is available as an SME for panels and presentations. Contact her about availability.