The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to retake action this week on the Zadroga Act, which would support health care programs set for first responders and civilians who became ill as a result of 9/11. The legislation got caught up in some political and procedural infighting earlier in the summer.
I hope and trust that the [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Public Health Preparedness'
Health Bill For World Trade Center Recovery Volunteers, Civilians Expected To Be Considered Again By Congress This Week
September 20th, 2010 · No Comments
Tags: City Preparedness · Public Health Preparedness · Volunteering
American Public Health Association Asking Citizens To Make Online Promise To Prepare Their Family, Friends & Community
August 2nd, 2010 · 2 Comments
The American Public Health Asssociation (APHA) is asking citizens to make an online promise “to prepare my family, friends and community”. The pledge initiative is part of the APHA’s Get Ready campaign.
It asks the public to do five things: get a flu vaccination and other recommended immunizations, create a family communications and evacuation plan, have an [...]
Tags: Preparedness Ideas · Public Health Preparedness
“As We Rush To Protect the Gulf Coast Environment, Are Responders [Incl. Citizen Volunteers] Being Protected?”
May 16th, 2010 · 1 Comment
That’s the excellent question asked in a post by Elizabeth Grossman on The Pump Handle blog. The answer, Grossman finds, is still — like the crisis — evolving. She writes:
As the unprecedented offshore oil drilling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico unfolds and extraordinary measures are being taken to protect vulnerable coastal and marine environments [...]
Tags: Public Health Preparedness · Volunteering
Obama Declares H1N1 “National Emergency” To Help Health System Respond To Surge In Cases
October 24th, 2009 · 1 Comment
President Obama has signed a proclamation declaring the H1N1 flu a “national emergency,” according to Reuters:
The proclamation, which Obama signed Friday night, will make it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs as needed, [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · President Obama · Public Health Preparedness
Be A “Fake Patient” To Help NYC Prepare For Anthrax, H1N1; City Looking For More Volunteers For Medicine Distribution Drill On Saturday
August 11th, 2009 · 1 Comment
The City of New York is looking for at least a few hundred more good men (and women) to be “Fake Patients” in a “Point of Dispensing (POD) Emergency Response Exercise” on Saturday afternoon. Officials say the drill will help in the planning for both a possible anthrax attack as well as the possible return [...]
Tags: Biological Terrorism · Preparedness Events · Public Health Preparedness
New Survey Says 59% Of Americans Expect Widespread H1N1 Flu Outbreak Later In Year; Not As Concerned About Personal Risk, But Worry About School And Workplace Policies
July 16th, 2009 · No Comments
Almost six in ten Americans (59%) believe it is very or somewhat likely that there will be widespread cases of Influenza A (H1N1) with people getting very sick this coming fall or winter, according to a new poll released today by the Harvard Opinion Research Program at the Harvard School of Public Health. The full survey [...]
Tags: Pandemic Flu · Public Health Preparedness · Public Opinion
Summing Up The H1N1 Summit From Citizen POV: Start Preparing For Possible Severe Fall Outbreak; Federal, State, Local Officials Now ‘Working The Problems’ On Policies/Logistics For Schools, Workplaces, Vaccine Distribution & Risk Communications
July 12th, 2009 · 10 Comments
I had the opportunity to attend Thursday’s U.S. H1N1 Flu Preparedness Summit held at the campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. The all-day event was organized by the Obama Administration to focus attention on preparation for and response to a possible more serious H1N1 outbreak in the Fall. Five hundred [...]
Tags: Department of Homeland Security · Government Education Programs · Government Web Sites · Pandemic Flu · President Obama · Public Health Preparedness
Good Question: “Twitter Growing Virally But Can It Stop Viruses?”
July 11th, 2009 · 1 Comment
In a post on the Software Advice blog, “Twitter Growing Virally But Can It Stop Viruses?”, Chris Thoman argues that Twitter could play a significant role in epidemiology. He writes:
The combination of Twitter and epidemiology presents an interesting opportunity: What if doctors twittered about symptoms they observed and diagnoses they made? What if that information [...]
Tags: Preparedness 2.0 · Public Health Preparedness
New Study Shows State/Local Health Departments Vary On Web Information Delivered To Public During H1N1 Outbreak
July 8th, 2009 · No Comments
A new report gives state and local health departments mixed grades for distributing information through the internet to the public during the H1N1 outbreak. According to an article in U.S. News & World Report:
After the U.S. government declared a public health emergency in April, 46 of 50 state health departments posted some information about the [...]
Tags: City Preparedness · Preparedness 2.0 · Public Health Preparedness · State Preparedness
New Mini-Guide To Social Media & Public Health/Emergency Preparedness
June 2nd, 2009 · No Comments
I wanted to mention a new mini-guide/chart from the Yale University School of Public Health Preparedness called Social Media And Preparedness. In a simple basic form, it lists the leading social media tools and how they can be used in public health and emergency preparedness. As the introduction describes:
“The internet is buzzing with tweets, diggs, podcasts, widgets, and [...]