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Susan Allan, MD, JD, MPH, Arlington County Department of Health Services, 1800 N. Edison St., Arlington, VA 22207, 703-228-4992, sallan@co.arlington.va.us
In the past several years, local public health departments have been increasingly become recognized as “emergency response” agencies, with high visibility for their emergency preparedness activities. This has brought some additional resources and maybe additional “respect” to local public health. But this shift also creates a risk of distorting the distribution of public health services (such as the redirection of resources to provide smallpox vaccinations, or the investigations of “white powders”). And the heightened visibility of “partnerships” with police, FBI and Homeland Security may jeopardize the traditional relationships with the minority, immigrant and underserved communities. The “emergency preparedness” approach is fundamentally authoritative (enforcement) and binary (“friends” and “enemies”), in contrast to the community engagement model that has been the basis of most local public health activities.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this session participants will be able to
Keywords: Local Public Health Agencies, Bioterrorism
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.