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Bioterrorism and Health System Preparedness Projects

Bioterrorism and Health Systems Preparedness Web Conferences

HSR designed and conducted a series of Web conferences on bioterrorism and health systems preparedness for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The conferences, which targeted public health officials, decisionmakers, and providers, emphasized evidence-based information and tools to enhance timely coordination, communication, and systems capacity. A March 2005 conference addressing how alternative community resources could be used in the case of a mass casualty event, helped inform the disaster response strategies for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The products of this project are available at:

• http://www.ahrq.gov/research/altstand/altstand.pdf

Altered Standards of Care in Mass Casualty Events Expert Meeting and White Paper

HSR designed, convened, and facilitated an expert meeting on mass casualty medical care in August 2004 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness. The meeting was designed to:

• Examine how current standards of care might need to be altered to save as many lives as possible during a mass casualty event
• Identify planning, guidance, and tools and related issues needed to be addressed to ensure an effective health and medical care response to a mass casualty event
• Recommend specific action steps that will begin to address the needs of Federal, State, regional, community, and health systems planners.

Participants included a diverse group of experts from the fields of bioethics, emergency medicine, emergency management, health administration, health law and policy, and public health. They represented key Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense. A broad range of State agencies, professional associations, hospital and health care systems, and other health organizations also participated in the deliberations.

Following the meeting, HSR drafted a white paper entitled, Altered Standards of Care in Mass Casualty Events. The document, which summarizes the deliberations and recommendations from the expert meeting on the need to develop and plan a strategy in response to mass casualty event, offers a framework and set of principles to guide development of a plan, identifies an important set of related issues to be addressed, and presents the experts' recommendations concerning action steps to be taken to help States, communities, health systems, and providers be prepared to respond to a mass casualty event. The publication was released in March 2005.

• http://www.ahrq.gov/research/altstand/altstand.pdf

Bioterrorism and Health Systems Preparedness, Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)

HSR's contracts with AHRQ's User Liaison Program were modified in 2003 and 2004 to include the design and conduct of a series of Web conferences on bioterrorism and health systems preparedness. Targeted to public health officials, health systems decisionmakers, and health care providers, the Web conferences are designed to share evidence-based information and tools that help these groups detect and respond to acts of bioterrorism effectively and efficiently. To date, HSR has conducted eight Web conferences on a variety of issues, including information technology and surveillance systems to communicate and monitor disaster events, smallpox, disaster planning, readiness assessments, surge capacity, and regional bioterrorism strategies. Plans are underway to design and conduct two additional Web conferences in 2005. In addition to the Web conferences, HSR designed and convened an expert meeting on mass casualty medical care. The meeting was followed by a white paper on altered Standards of Care in a Mass Casualty Event that was developed by HSR for AHRQ and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness.