Emergency Preparedness Episodes

March 16, 2022

139: New Report on Public Health Readiness

Dara Lieberman, Director of Government Relations for the Trust for America’s Health, explains the organization’s “Ready or Not 2022” report assessing states’ readiness to protect public health during emergencies; Brian Lentes, ASTHO’s...
March 14, 2022

137: Opioids Get Presidential Attention

Dr. Cathy Slemp, West Virginia’s former state health officer, reflects on President Biden’s comments about America’s opioid epidemic in his recent State of the Union address; Paul Petersen, Director of Emergency Preparedness at the Tennessee...
March 2, 2022

129: Messaging New COVID-19 Metrics

Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, says public health jurisdictions must have clear messaging when explaining the CDC’s new community-level COVID-19 metrics; Elizabeth Head, Deputy Director for Injury Prevention at the Georgia...
March 1, 2022

128: Epidemiologists Needed

Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, explains the critical need to hire hundreds of epidemiologists in public health departments nationwide; Richard Hamburg, Executive Director of the Safe States Alliance, outlines...
Feb. 25, 2022

126: Personal Stories Fight Vaccine Misinformation

Molly Howell, Immunization Director at the North Dakota Department of Health, says testimonials from people impacted by COVID-19 have helped make the virus real for people with doubts about the vaccines; Chrissie Juliano, Executive Director of the Big...
Feb. 17, 2022

121: A Focus on Mental Health

Elke Shaw-Tulloch, Idaho’s State Health Officer, shares her state’s approach to addressing mental health concerns; ASTHO’s Maggie Davis authors a blog article on legislative efforts impacting mental health; Carolyn McCoy, ASTHO’s Senior...
Feb. 16, 2022

120: Supporting Public Health Authority

Margret Cooke, Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health, examines the value of public health authority when responding to a public health emergency; Alison Beam, Pennsylvania’s former acting Secretary of Health, says the response forced by...
Feb. 15, 2022

119: Is COVID-19 in Retreat?

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, says the COVID-19 virus may be in a welcomed retreat; Dr. Joe Gaugler tells us why organizers of a new conference on dementia caregiving planned for June in Minneapolis want public...
Feb. 11, 2022

117: ASTHO’s New Strategic Plan

Zarnaaz Bashir, ASTHO’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, says the organization’s new strategic plan was created during and influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic; Dr. Robert Bourgeois, an occupational and environmental health expert working along the...
Feb. 1, 2022

109: Reflections on Black History Month

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, reflects on current events in the context of Black History Month, on the first day of the month-long recognition; Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO’s President-elect, considers the...
Jan. 21, 2022

102: Recalling COVID-19’s First Case Part 2

Dr. John Wiesman, the former Secretary of Health in Washington state, gives his assessment of the nation's pandemic response since the first COVID-19 case was discovered in his state two years ago this week. He discusses what has worked, what remains...
Dec. 16, 2021

86: Power Outage Preparedness

Eric Cote, an expert in emergency power preparedness, tells us why it’s important to know who relies on electricity for their medical devices when power is lost in a community; Stephen Heck, an ASTHO Disability and Preparedness Specialist working in...
Dec. 6, 2021

78: Vaccine Mandate Prediction

ASTHO Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marcus Plescia says influenza and COVID-19 have a lot in common, as National Influenza Vaccination Week kicks off today; Professor James Hodge Jr., at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University...
Dec. 2, 2021

76: Omicron Variant Now in the U.S.

ASTHO Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marcus Plescia says there are more questions than answers regarding the Omicron variant now in the United States; Dr. Plescia writes in a new ASTHO blog article that the pandemic presents an historic opportunity to...
Nov. 3, 2021

60: Vaccinating Pregnant People

Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana’s State Health Commissioner, discusses the complex task of vaccinating hesitant pregnant people against COVID-19; ASTHO releases advice from community groups gathered to explore possible responses to vaccine misinformation...
Oct. 27, 2021

55: Pediatric COVID Vaccine Sites

James Blumenstock, ASTHO’s Senior Vice President for Pandemic Response and Recovery, shares how states and territories are preparing for the possibility of a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine; Kathy Dolan, Director of Environmental Health at ASTHO, tells...
Oct. 15, 2021

47: State of the COVID-19 Response

Dr. Nirav Shah, ASTHO President and Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, addresses the state of the campaign against COVID-19; Kim Martin, ASTHO’s Director of Immunizations, says more approved booster formulas would be...
Oct. 1, 2021

38: Wildfire and Hurricane Preparedness

Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, discusses the appropriate role of monoclonal antibodies in the COVID-19 response; ASTHO has a Q/A for public health teams who need to explain the CDC’s revised guidance for pregnant or...
Sept. 9, 2021

22: Emergency Help Requests

Win Rawls, ASTHO’s Director of Preparedness and Evaluation, explains the increased demand for interstate emergency help among states and territories and the impact on the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC); Dr. Umair Shah, Secretary of...
Sept. 7, 2021

20: 9/11 Preparedness Lessons

Lisa Peterson, ASTHO’s Director of Health and Homeland Security, reviews plans for Thursday’s event to examine preparedness twenty years after 9/11; and Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and...
Aug. 30, 2021

15: CDC Domestic Travel Guidance

Dr. Kristina Angelo, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, tells ASTHO members how they can help get the word out about the revised recommendations for domestic travelers; Cassandra Thompson, ASTHO’s Director of Preparedness and Disability...
Aug. 26, 2021

13: Hurricane Preparedness

Gerrit Bakker, ASTHO’s Senior Director for Public Health Preparedness, urges all ASTHO members to prepare for hurricanes, not just those with borders on the Atlantic coastline; Jes Lyons, ASTHO Senior Analyst of Social and Behavioral Health, offers...
Aug. 20, 2021

9: Booster Shot Logistics

Jim Blumenstock, ASTHO’s Senior Vice President for Pandemic Response and Recovery, discusses the logistics of standing up COVID-19 vaccination sites to provide booster shots; ASTHO Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marcus Plescia ponders demand for third...
Aug. 10, 2021

1: Vaccine Misinformation

Nirav Shah, MD, JD, Director, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and President of ASTHO, discusses vaccine misinformation. DELPH Program.