Homeland Security and Public Health: A Critical Integration

In the wake of a series of tragic events impacting public health in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security have attempted to facilitate information sharing across public health and homeland security organizations. Data collected as part of a national assessment of law enforcement and homeland security information sharing, funded by the National Institute of Justice, indicate such efforts to date have been helpful in establishing a foundation for information sharing, yet fall short of creating mechanisms by which tangible information sharing can occur. Recent initiatives to remedy this shortcoming are presented and recommendations for further success are discussed

Use of Unstructured Event-Based Reports for Global Infectious Disease Surveillance

Free or low-cost unstructured reports offer an alternative to traditional indicator-based outbreak reporting

Qualia : a prescription for developing a quality health threat assessment

CHDS State/LocalThe 9/11 Commission Report called for consolidation of intelligence assets in order to unify the knowledge base of the intelligence community agencies. This concept gave rise to the fusion center as a place for the fusion of multiple information sources from local, state, and federal levels of government. Although the need for inclusion of health and medical information in fusion centers has been documented, relatively few have done so, and a product designed specifically toward health and medical intelligence currently does not exist at the state and local level. The purpose of this paper is to document a methodology for development of a health threat assessment as a means for the intelligence community to maintain a decision advantage, particularly at the state and local level where the intelligence developed will provide the most benefit to first responders and the local community. This model demonstrates the need for the public health and medical community to improve collaboration across sectors to produce a more integrated product that enhances the understanding of the entire community, thus developing qualia. This can only be accomplished through trust, complete transparency, and clarification of expectations in order to establish the consummate information sharing community.http://archive.org/details/qualiprescriptio109453769Senior Deputy Director, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Administration, District of Columbia Department of Health author (civilian)

Biosurveillance technology : providing situational awareness through increased information sharing

CHDS State/LocalThis need for the public health and medical enterprise to share information, has increased over the last decade, due to events such as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak, and other naturally occurring outbreaks, such as the recent Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O104 (STEC O104:H4) infections occurring in, and associated with, travel to Germany. This thesis explores the various ways that information sharing can be improved within the public health and medical enterprise. Through case studies and interviews, a conceptual framework, the LEAPS model, was developed to guide the process to improve information sharing. This model is based upon the establishment of a strong foundation in health information sharing and disease surveillance. This model is centered upon leadership, policy, and strategy. The LEAPS model framework is then expanded to offer specific ways for the public health and medical enterprise to improve information sharing within jurisdictions and sectors to rapidly detect and respond to naturally occurring or intentional disease outbreaks or exposures and to create better situational awareness and a common operating picture.http://archive.org/details/biosurveillancet109455560Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited