Citation

Davis MV, MacDonald PD, Cline JS, Baker EL. Public Health Rep. (1974) 2007; 122(1): 17-26.

Affiliation

North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness, North Carolina Institute for Public Health, University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. mvdavis@email.unc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Association of Schools of Public Health)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

17236604

PMCID

PMC1802115

Abstract

Reviews of state public health preparedness improvements have been primarily limited to measuring funds expenditures and achievement of cooperative agreement benchmarks. Such reviews fail to assess states' actual capacity for meeting the challenges they may face during an emergency, as evidenced by activities undertaken during the various phases of a disaster. This article examines North Carolina's public health preparedness and response performance during two hurricanes, Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Isabel in 2003, as well as capacity building activities in the intervening years. North Carolina created new infrastructures, enhanced laboratory capacity, and strengthened communications after Hurricane Floyd. These activities facilitated implementation of functional capabilities through effective centralized communication, command and control incident management, and a rapid needs assessment and medical surveillance during Hurricane Isabel. North Carolina continues to implement these capabilities in public health emergencies. Measuring and implementing functional capabilities during exercises or real events facilitates achievement of preparedness performance standards, goals, and objectives.

Language: en