Preparedness Summit

In a world of increasingly global and uncharted threats, public health professionals must learn how to respond to a wide array of potential emergencies and disasters. Organizations may not have the resources to prepare for every potential threat but they can plan responses to make their communities more resilient. Recovery after a disaster impacts all levels of governmental public health and healthcare agencies and these organizations must work together toward a more prepared and resilient nation.

The goal of the Preparedness Summit is to provide a venue where participants are exposed to current information, research findings, and practical tools to enhance the participants’ capabilities to plan and prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and other public health emergencies.

The Summit agenda has been carefully crafted to raise and address a variety of issues that present challenges for the field of public health and healthcare preparedness. The Summit workshops, plenary panels, interactive sessions, sharing session discussions, and poster presentations have been selected to increase the knowledge base of attendees, promote the learning and development of new skills, and move the field forward, striking a balance between research and practical application. This agenda has been informed by a planning committee that represents public health professionals across all levels of government in addition to other subject matter experts.

The Summit will meet this goal through the following objectives for attendees:

Identify current priority areas in public health and healthcare preparedness at the local, state, tribal, and national levels;
Identify current priority areas in public health preparedness resilience and recovery, at the local, state, tribal, and national levels;
Describe emerging practices and theories that can be applied to improve community preparedness and community resilience at the local, state, tribal, and national levels;
Assess key resources and tools that will enhance or sustain professional work or volunteer role in planning for, responding to, and recovering from disasters and other public health emergencies; and
Identify opportunities to engage with national stakeholders on Federal guidance and policy issues that will impact state and local preparedness.