Hi Cynthia, thank you for your comprehensive and informative posting to this week discussion forum. If we wanted to expand our discussion on scientific research and preparedness, how could we describe its contributions and significance to advancing and enabling preparedness to man-made and terrorist related threats? How would you assess and describe its role (scientific research) in the defense against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats and preparing for public health emergencies? I appreciate your thoughts

below is the original work you did

How Scientific Research Supports Public Health Preparedness

The scientific research teams work by conducting studies on various health hazards within the community. It includes identifying infections and finding its source hence alerting the public about such contaminations (Yusuf, Ekperi, Groseclose, Siegfried, Meit, and Carbone 2018). Similarly, the research teams can monitor impending disasters and give the public prior warnings. For example, a caution about an approaching hurricane could be issued to the public so that people could evacuate to prevent injuries or loss of lives. Besides, this could alert the people on the possible disease outbreaks such as water-borne diseases. Additionally, scientific research allows for identification of the risk-population in case of a public health concern as well as the response and recovery procedures to be implemented (Yusuf et al. 2018).

Infrastructure Associated with Supporting the Research

A reliable communication channel between scientific researchers and public health officials should be in place. It allows researchers to present their findings in good time for appropriate action to be taken in case of a public health emergency (Leinhos, Qari, and William-Johnson, 2014). Scientific researchers use modern technology such as Electronic Health Records (EHR) and health information technology that is integrated into the public health of various communities (Leinhos et al. 2014). It ensures that the research is prepared according to the practices of the community to yield the desired results. Community Institutional Review Board is an organization that oversees research to ensure that they operate within the research norms where human subjects are involved. Furthermore, the review board ensures that the research team incorporates the needs and cultural practices of the community (Leinhos et al. 2014).

Public Health Medical Countermeasures Enterprises and Related Activities

The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprises (PHEMCE) was established in 2006 to improve the country’s preparedness for health emergencies by the use of medical countermeasures (Ravi and Adalja, 2017). These dangers included chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) agents that could pose a national health threat. It was perceived that the lack of countermeasures on such risks could result in deaths or disability to the people of America. Thus, the government created the PHEMCE to meet the public health emergency needs of its population.

Federal Agencies Involved in Public Health Preparedness Research

The Center for Disease Control (CDC)

CDC is one of the federal agencies that is involved in all public health preparedness research process. Its principal role is to ensure diseases are controlled, especially airborne diseases and untested symptoms. It is also in charge of training the public health workforce and funding them in response to disease outbreaks to the public and awareness of diseases. Also, CDC controls the PHEP by ensuring that bio-surveillance is continuous, administering community resilience programs, and lastly, conducting surge management (Leinhos et al. 2014).

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

FEMA is the controller of all agencies during public health disasters and establishes the proper communication channel depending on the circumstances. FEMA’s role in public health preparedness research is to analyze previous disaster data and to propose standard control measures. It proposes proper communication channels and ensures that mistakes are minimized during the preparedness process. It supervises training programs for public health preparedness.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

The HHS is the primary agency that coordinates the medical and health-related services of the federal government. Additionally, the HHS works with other agencies to provide medical services in times of disasters as well as managing the national disaster medical system (Katz, 2019). Therefore, the HHS supports public health research by providing relevant information to the research teams.

References

Katz, R., (2019). Essentials of Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Management 2^nd Edition. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Leinhos, M., Qari, S. H., and Williams-Johnson, M. (2014). Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers: Using a Public Health Systems Approach to Improve All-Hazards Preparedness and Response. Public Health Reports, 129(6_suppl4), 8-18.

Ravi, S., and Adalja, A. A., (2017). Strengthening the US Medical Countermeasure Enterprise for Biological Threats. Health security, 15(1), 12-14.

Yusuf, H., Ekperi, L., Groseclose, S., Siegfried, A., Meit, M., and Carbone, E. (2018). Research Participation among State and Local Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs. Public health, 159, 133-136.