Current Hospital Disaster Preparedness

SINCE THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, SUBSTANtial resources have been devoted to improving disaster preparedness in the United States, with an emphasis on mitigating terrorist threats. Adequate preparedness can only be achieved with a comprehensive approach that connects local, state, and federal programs. At the local level, planning should include all critical disaster health care resources, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, alternate care facilities, public health departments, and emergency medical services systems. Although hospitals are only one component of a regional program for disaster management, they represent a critical link in the system. In 2002, the US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) established the National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program (NBHPP) to improve the preparedness of hospitals. The program’s priorities included improving hospital surge capacity, decontamination capability, and isolation capacity, as well as supplementing pharmaceutical supplies, and supporting training and education. When President Bush reauthorized the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (Pub L No. 109-417) in 2006, oversight of the NBHPP was moved from HRSA to the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response, and the NBHPP was renamed the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP).