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Report

Dispensing Medical Countermeasures for Public Health Emergencies Workshop Summary

Released:
August 15, 2008
Type:
Workshop Summary
Topics:
Biomedical and Health Research, Public Health
Activity:
Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events
Board:
Board on Health Sciences Policy

Note: Workshop Summaries contain the opinion of the presenters, but do NOT reflect the conclusions of the IOM. Learn more about the differences between Workshop Summaries and Consensus Reports.

On March 3-4, 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events hosted a workshop titled "Medical Countermeasures Dispensing." The overall objective was to discuss a range of solutions to rapidly provide medical countermeasures to protect large numbers of people prior to or during a public health emergency, such as a bioterrorist attack or infectious disease outbreak. The United States is currently unprepared to confront the range of threats it is facing, such as an intentional anthrax release, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), or pandemic influenza, and it must plan aggressively to counteract the threat of these and other future public health emergencies. Countermeasure dispensing must harness all types of imaginative partnerships between public and private institutions, working together in ways tailored to meet individual community needs. This workshop summary highlights the presentations and subsequent discussion that occurred at the workshop.


Other Reports by this Activity

  • Barriers to Integrating Crisis Standards of Care Principles into International Disaster Response Plans - Workshop Summary When a nation or region prepares for public health emergencies such as a pandemic influenza, a large-scale earthquake, or any major disaster scenario in which the health system may be destroyed or stressed to its limits, it is important to describe how standards of care would change due to shortages of critical resources. At the 17th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine, the IOM Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness sponsored a session that focused on the promise of and challenges to integrating crisis standards of care principles into international disaster response plans.
    Released: January 23, 2012
  • Preparedness and Response to a Rural Mass Casualty Incident - Workshop Summary Problems contacting emergency services and delayed assistance are not unusual when incidents occur in rural areas, and the consequences can be devastating, particularly with mass casualty incidents. The IOM’s Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events held a workshop to examine the current capabilities of emergency response systems and the future opportunities to improve mass casualty response in rural communities.
    Released: February 22, 2011
  • The 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination Campaign - Summary of a Workshop Series The 2009 H1N1 vaccination campaign was one of the largest public health campaigns in U.S. history, vaccinating one-quarter of the population in the first three months. The IOM held three workshops in Raleigh, NC; Austin, TX; and Seattle, WA to learn from participants’ experiences during the campaign and improve future emergency vaccination programs.
    Released: October 29, 2010

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