National Preparedness Month Episodes

Sept. 18, 2025

993: New World Screwworm, States’ Preparedness Policies

Shalini Nair, senior analyst for infectious disease at ASTHO, tells public health professionals everything they need to know about New World screwworm (NWS), and what to do if their state experiences a case; Maggie Nilz, senior analyst for preparedness at ASTHO, shares information from a new Health…
Sept. 15, 2025

990: Connecting Public Health Silos, Tracking Data for Emergencies

Marissa Eyanson, director of behavioral health for the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, shares how her department is breaking down silos between its behavioral health and disability service systems to make it easier for Iowans to access care; Dr. Paul Petersen, director of the emergenc…
Sept. 10, 2025

987: One Health, Fall Vaccination Season

Dr. Catherine Brown, state epidemiologist and state public health veterinarian at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, discusses ASTHO’s recent meeting with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the importance of the One Health approach; a recent ASTHO blog artic…
Sept. 4, 2025

983: Accessible Public Health Data; Disaster Preparedness

Former ASTHO president Dr. Anne Zink, senior clinical fellow at Yale University and practicing emergency medicine physician, shares how PopHIVE, a database of de-identified, population-level health data, draws data from various sources, allowing public health providers to find patterns and make inf…
Sept. 11, 2024

747: Emergency Stockpile Strategies, Workforce Recommendations

Maggie Nilz, MPH, CPH, senior analyst, Preparedness and Disability Integration, ASTHO, discusses emergency stockpiles management; Allison Budzinski, Social & Behavioral Health and Workforce senior analyst, ASTHO, previews strategies for agencies...
Sept. 10, 2024

746: Preparedness Requires Year-Round Collaboration, AmeriCorps Grants

Alysia Mihalakos, chief, Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Rhode Island Department of Health, and chair of the ASTHO Directors of Public Health Preparedness Peer Network, discusses National Preparedness Month and year-round...
Sept. 28, 2023

513: Menthol Ban Lessons, Retail Food Safety Networks

Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO’s Chief Medical Officer, shares the challenges facing plans to ban tobacco flavorings; Dr. David McSwane, Executive Director of the Conference for Food Protection, explains the collaborative work of CFP and NACCHO to...
Sept. 19, 2023

506: Maintaining Pandemic Partnerships, Septic System Data

Andrew Pickett, Director of the Bureau of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, says collaboration among preparedness professionals is essential for public health; ASTHO has issued a statement supporting the...
Sept. 12, 2023

501: Prepping for Cyber Attacks, Suicide Awareness and Data

Adrianna Evans, ASTHO’s Director of Preparedness and Disability Integration, says cybersecurity is an emerging topic in preparedness planning; Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, explains that suicide...
Sept. 7, 2023

498: Extreme Heat Ideas, Updated Healthy Aging Policy

Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Director of the National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) at the CDC, explains the CDC’s work to address extreme heat; Dr. Ihsan Azzam, Chief Medical Officer...
Sept. 1, 2023

495: Power Outage Toolkit, Alpha-Gal Syndrome Explained

Eric Cote, founder of Power Outage Partners, explains how the ASTHO Power Outage tool kit can help prevent life-threatening situations; Elizabeth Schiffman, supervisor of the Vector-Borne Disease Unit at the Minnesota Department of Health, says it’s...