Public health readiness and recovery capabilities will be highlighted at the Nov. 19 eighth annual conference of the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis.
Infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters and civil unrest are some of the topics that will be discussed.
Stephen Redd, MD, director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will deliver the keynote address, “Organized Chaos: Lessons in Public Health Preparedness and Response from Local, State, Federal and Global Perspectives.”
Discussions about emergency preparedness will follow the keynote. Gary Christmann, commissioner with the City of St. Louis Emergency Management Agency, will address how to prepare for and respond to events ranging from large emergencies to catastrophic incidents; and Debbie Mays, director of safety and emergency preparedness for BJC HealthCare, will discuss how to develop and implement emergency and regional disaster preparedness.
A panel will follow, and a poster session and refreshments will conclude the conference.
“There always will be public health threats from natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, civil unrest and other circumstances,” said William G. Powderly, MD, director of the Institute for Public Health and the J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine. “While we can’t always predict the impact of these problems, we can improve our ability to prepare for and respond to them.”
The event is free and open to the public, but participants are asked to preregister.
Source: WUSTL, adapted.
