Emergency Preparedness Episodes

Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, says health equity impacts every public health consideration; the 2022 Preparedness Summit begins in Atlanta; data collection for the 2022 ASTHO Profile of State and...

Dr. Sonia Lee, Acting Branch Chief of the NICHD Maternal and Pediatric Infectious Disease Branch at the National Institutes of Health, explains the findings of a new study measuring the impact of mask wearing in schools; Dr. Haley Cash, an...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...