Military Assistance to International Health Emergency Response: Examining Frameworks for an Ebola-like Disaster in the Asia Pacific

In consideration of the international health security crisis currently unfolding in West Africa, Banyan Analytics, an Asia-Pacific focused, not-for-profit research and analysis institute of Analytic Services Inc., will hold a conference featuring a tabletop exercise and high-level discussion regarding the military response to a future complex health emergency in the Asia-Pacific.

The focus of the exercise will be to understand how decisions made by international, civilian, and military leadership affect the delivery of military capabilities to address complex health emergencies abroad. The scenario, an infectious disease transmitted by person-to-person spread with a high case fatality rate (e.g. similar to a hemorrhagic fever), will incite a cascade of disaster-related events, overwhelming medical and public health infrastructure and other components of society. Acute disease spread, limited medical care for persons in fragile health and/or with chronic health conditions, poor risk communication and unsustainable efforts to halt spread through containment measures (isolation and quarantine) will further result in a situation spiraling out of control. The scenario will catalyze compelling questions regarding threat awareness and communication, population health, information exchange, transportation, security and safety, expectations of support from the region and the military, and others.