The threat of biological weapons poses unique challenges for government officials charged with devising immediate and longer-term response plans. RAND has developed exercises to train and evaluate the preparedness of state and local public health agencies to respond to bioterrorism. RAND researchers have also examined the longer-term psychological consequences of bioterrorism and created guidelines to improve individual preparedness for chemical, radiological, nuclear, and biological attacks.
Research conducted by:
RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment;
Homeland Security and Defense Center;
RAND National Security Research Division;
RAND Health;
Public Health Systems and Preparedness
Reports (7)
Presents assessments that test five critical elements of state and local health departments' capability to deliver countermeasures to the population under rapid timeframes.
Testimony presented before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness on March 28, 2006.
An evaluation of the pilot year of Project Public Health Ready, a voluntary program for which participants receive recognition and which prepares local public health agencies to respond to bioterrorism and to protect the public's health.
RAND developed the exercises in this manual as templates that local public health agencies (LPHAs) can customize and use to train public health workers in detecting and responding to bioterrorism events and assessing LPHAs' levels of preparedness.
Dr. Tony Fauci speaks about bioterrorism at the 2002 Haskins Lectureship on Science Policy held on November 15, 2002.
The public health and medical communities have long sought to address the threat of biological, chemical, or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their potential effects on the health and safety of U.S. citizens.
This Symposium was held to help remedy the conclusion that as a nation we are ill-prepared to deal with events such as the use of chemical and biological weapons by terrorists.
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