We designed and conducted a regional full-scale exercise in 2007 to test the ability of Atlanta-area hospitals and community partners to respond to a terrorist attack involving the coordinated release of 2 dangerous chemicals (toluene diisocyanate and parathion) that were being transported through the area by tanker truck.

The exercise was designed to facilitate the activation of hospital emergency response plans and to test applicable triage, decontamination, and communications protocols. Plume modeling was conducted by using the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC) V4 program. The scenario went through multiple iterations as exercise planners sought to reduce total injuries to a manageable, but stressful, level for Atlanta’s health care infrastructure.

Atlanta-area hospitals rapidly performed multiple casualty triage and were able to take in a surge of victims from the simulated attack. However, health care facilities were reticent to push the perceived manageable numbers of victims, and scenarios were modified significantly to lower the magnitude of the simulated attack. Additional coordination with community response partners and incident command training is recommended. Security at health care facilities and decontamination of arriving victims are two areas that will require continued review.

Atlanta-area hospitals participated in an innovative regional exercise that pushed facilities beyond traditional scopes of practice and brought together numerous health care community response partners. Using lessons learned from this exercise coupled with subsequent real-world events and training exercises, participants have significantly enhanced preparedness levels and increased the metropolitan region’s medical surge capacity in the case of a multiple casualty disaster. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:681–689)

This paper: (1) explores the real and perceived threats to Emergency Departments (EDs) in addressing infectious disease cases in the US, like measles, and (2) identifies priorities for protecting employees, patients, and others stakeholders through hospital preparedness while streamlining processes and managing costs.

A case study approach was used to describe the events that triggered an infectious disease emergency response in 1 ED in the southeast. Development of the case study was informed by emergency preparedness literature on Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program processes.

Hospital staff and administrators identified a number of factors that either positively contributed to disease containment or exacerbated conditions for disease transmission. Successes included early recognition of the potential threat, development of a multidisciplinary taskforce, and implementation of a pre-incident response plan. Challenges comprised of patient flow in crisis response, lab turnaround time, and employee records.

The threat of exposure challenged daily operations and raised situational awareness among administrators and providers to issues that might arise during an infectious disease exposure. Recording emergency preparedness successes, remediating challenges, and sharing information with others may help minimize the threat of communicable diseases within hospital settings in the future.

The aim of this study was to assess strengths and challenges experienced by HIV/STD providers in providing care during the response to Hurricane Sandy (Sandy) in New York State, and their recommendations for future preparedness.

A mixed methods approach, including a focus group (n = 3), interviews (n = 3), and survey (n = 31) of HIV/STD providers, was used. Key words identified by means of open coding methodology from collected data were organized into strengths, challenges, and recommendations and then grouped into federal and study-associated preparedness capabilities.

Key words were organized into 81 strengths (38.8%), 73 challenges (34.9%), and 55 recommendations (26.3%). Services most interrupted during Sandy were related to HIV/STD outreach and education. While providers reported challenges with external agency communication, the ability to still connect clients to needed resources was reported as a strength. Strengthening partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies was among the major recommendations made by these providers.

This study presents unique information about challenges experienced by HIV/STD providers in providing services during a natural disaster and the use of national public health emergency preparedness capabilities to address and overcome those challenges. Lessons learned and recommendations regarding inter-agency communications emerged as an important priority during a natural disaster to minimize or reduce service interruption.

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in Chinese residents’ psychological state and its influencing factors after the Wuhan shutdown on January 23, 2020.

Two surveys were conducted on February 1-5 and February 20-24, separately, using an online self-administrated questionnaire among 3145 and 3814 participants, respectively. Subjective indicators of daily-life changes include level of attention, risk of infection, impact of daily life, self-perceived health status, and mental health help-seeking. Individual scores on changes in anxiety, depression, and stress were generated by 6-item, 4-item, and 3-item questions. A multivariate regression model was fitted in each survey, separately and combined.

A total of 6959 residents participated in the study, with 32.78% male and 67.22% female, people living in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province accounted for 25.22% and 18.85%, respectively. One week after the Wuhan shutdown, their anxiety, depression, and stress had all increased. Compared with the first survey, the changes in the scores of anxiety, depression, and stress in the second survey were decreased (β = −1.220, −0.798, and −0.623, all P < 0.001). The level of attention, risk of infection, and self-perceived health status tended to be positively associated with the changes in the scores of anxiety, depression, and stress.

The study showed that the lives and psychological conditions of residents had undergone negative changes after the Wuhan shutdown, but the measures taken during this period were effective. These results may provide guidance for public health policies in other countries and regions.

The objectives of this study is to predict the possible trajectory of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread in the United States. Prediction and severity ratings of COVID-19 are essential for pandemic control and economic reopening in the United States.

In this study, we apply the logistic and Gompertz model to evaluate possible turning points of the COVID-19 pandemic in different regions. By combining uncertainty and severity factors, this study constructed an indicator to assess the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in various states.

Based on the index of severity ratings, different regions of the United States are classified into 4 categories. The result shows that it is possible to identify the first turning point in Montana and Hawaii. It is unclear when the rest of the states will reach the first peak. However, it can be inferred that 75% of regions will not reach the first peak of coronavirus before August 2, 2020.

It is still essential for the majority of states to take proactive steps to fight against COVID-19 before August 2, 2020.

We aimed to assess student knowledge of Ebola virus disease (EVD) and opinions about media coverage of EVD.

We conducted a pilot study with a cross-sectional survey and a convenience sample.

Sixty-five college students participated in the survey and reported a low level of basic knowledge of EVD, high health literacy levels, and Internet and health professionals as sources for health information.

This pilot study was an important first step to understanding students’ knowledge of Ebola, common sources of health information, and health literacy levels. Results from this study highlight the need to improve health communication training and further evaluate the quality of health information dissemination via all communication sources. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:641–643)

Between May 2010 and September 2011, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health partnered with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to assess the effect of exercises on team performance during public health emergency response.

Participants were divided into 3 research teams exposed to various levels of intervention. Groups consisted of a control group that was given standard MDH training exercises, a didactic group exposed to team dynamics and communication training, and a treatment group that received the didactic training in addition to a post-exercise facilitated debriefing. To assess differences in team performance, teams engaged in 15 functional exercises.

Differences in team performance across the 3 groups were identified, although there was no trend in team performance over time for any of the groups. Groups demonstrated fluctuation in team performance during the study period. Attitudinal surveys demonstrated an increase in workplace satisfaction and confidence in training among all groups throughout the study period.

Findings from this research support that a critical link exists between training type and team performance during public health emergency response. This research supports that intentional teamwork training for emergency response workers is essential for effective public health emergency response. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:7–10)

We aimed to explore and create an evaluation model to assess hospital response capability for a public health emergency (PHE).

Grounded theory was used to construct a comprehensive evaluation index system. Combining with the index system and previous studies and policy documents, we investigated surge capability of hospitals in a PHE. The factor analysis method was used to establish the model.

The comprehensive evaluation system with 11 primary and 30 secondary indicators was constructed. A total of 89 secondary and tertiary hospitals were surveyed in China. The evaluation model (C = 0.587C1 + 0.151C2 + 0.140C3 + 0.122C4) was established. Four factors were identified, namely, preparation factor, treatment factor, emergency awareness factor, and prehospital first-aid factor.

A public health emergency could bring huge losses and a capable hospital response was necessary. There was an urgent need to evaluate hospital capability for a PHE.