Public Health Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Weapons

Lois M. Davis, Jeanne S. Ringel

ResearchPublished 2009

The U.S. public health and health-care delivery systems are important components of our nation's preparedness against terrorism and other public health threats. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the anthrax attacks later that year renewed government, public health, and medical personnel's awareness of chemical, biological, and, to a lesser extent, radiological and nuclear threats. It also underscored the importance of ensuring the nation's overall preparedness and ability to respond to terrorism and other public health emergencies. This document presents a broad overview of the U.S. public health response system, recent efforts to improve preparedness, challenges faced, and options for moving forward.

Posted with permission from WMD Terrorism: Science and Policy Choices, edited by Stephen M. Maurer, chapter 11, pp. 305–328. Copyright © 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Publisher: The MIT Press
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2009
  • Pages: 24
  • Document Number: RP-1415

Originally published in WMD Terrorism: Science and Policy Choices, edited by Stephen M. Maurer, chapter 11, pp. 305-328.

This publication is part of the RAND reprint series. The reprint series, a product of RAND from 1992 to 2011, included previously published journal articles, book chapters, and reports that were reproduced by RAND with the permission of the publisher. RAND reprints were formally reviewed in accordance with the publisher's editorial policy and compliant with RAND's rigorous quality assurance standards for quality and objectivity. For select current RAND journal articles, see external publications.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.