Readiness and response to public health emergencies: help needed now from professional nursing associations.

i s H s c H 2 l a HE TRAGEDY OF SEPTEMBER 11, anthrax attacks, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and ther recent infectious disease outbreaks have heightened ur awareness of the need for health care system readiness nd response capabilities. At the same time, the economic ealities of our modern health care system are reflected in ost-containment strategies toward low-volume inventories, educed bed availability, downsizing of staff, and a shift to utpatient services (American Hospital Association, 2002). ecreased reimbursement structures and workforce shortges have diminished the health care system’s ability to meet inimum patient demands, let alone the surge of patients hat would be expected in a mass-casualty incident. Furtherore, the infrastructure needed for detection and response rom the public health sector has been seriously eroded by ecades of insufficient funds. Agencies within the Departent of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been orking to address readiness and response capabilities, but rivate organizations and professional associations also have role to play. In keeping with the Public Health Security and Bioterorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, HHS develped a department-wide strategic plan to delineate its priorties. Within the plan, the Centers for Disease Control http://www.bt.cdc.gov) and Health Resources and Services dministration (HRSA; http://www.hrsa.gov/bioterrorism. tm) have strategic activities in education, training, licenure, and credentialing for the public health care workforce nd for hospital readiness. The Agency for Healthcare Reearch and Quality also has strategic activities related to edcation and training, as well as uses of information technolgy and electronic communication networks (Phillips,