Some of life's best lessons are learned at the worst times. This is especially true for planners during times of disaster. How we apply these lessons learned (or earned) strongly influences our response to future events. This simple axiom proved accurate after the May 22, 2011, EF5 multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri.  

Shortly after the devastating tornado, leaders from local hospitals gathered to share insights into their experience and assemble a list of lessons learned to be applied to future events.  Read More

In September of 2001, four coordinated terrorist attacks in New York City and the Washington, DC area left nearly 3,000 dead.  Just one week later, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to two U.S. Senators and several news media offices killing five people and infecting 17 others. Both events shocked this country to its core, setting in motion one of the largest restructuring of the federal government, through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and a record level investment in public health preparedness.  As a result of both actions, years of neglect were primed to be rectified.

Now ten years later we find the country in the grip of an unrelenting economic downturn. Has the ten-year anniversary of the 2001 attacks ushered in a continued era of ongoing preparedness or will past gains simply suffer from complacency? Read More

In a hectic, demanding environment, any breakdown in communication between staff and patients makes the decontamination process more arduous and hazardous. Despite best intentions, there are a number of barriers to effective communication that must be considered and addressed in order to enhance the outcome of an emergency decontamination operation and increase victim compliance.   Read More     

Question: What disease was responsible for the most deadly epidemic in U.S. history?  See answer