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Letters & CommentsValerie Yeager
Valerie Yeager is a 2007 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health. Upon completion of the MPH, she began working with the South Central Center for Public Health Preparedness as a research assistant. She is also currently a doctoral student in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health. Ms. Yeager was awarded the 2007 Lister Hill Policy Fellowship and served as a fellow in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. Her interest in public health developed through her work with HIV prevention and treatment. She served as an applied anthropological researcher in a HIV clinic in South Africa, writing about the challenges of HIV treatment in impoverished areas. While documenting the experiences of patients and the clinic team, Ms. Yeager also worked to complete a master degree in journalism with the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Ms. Yeager may be contacted at v.yeager@gmail.com.
Emergency Response, Public Health and Poison Control: Logical Linkages for Successful Risk Communication and Improved Disaster and Mass Incident Response
ABSTRACT:
Over the last eight years the United States has responded to hazards such as terrorism, natural disasters, and natural disease outbreaks with a focus on all-hazards preparedness. In many cases,
this all-hazards planning has been conducted in the silos of individual agencies and organizations. This essay, the winner of the 2009 CHDS Essay Contest, recommends that we bridge these silos,
improve collaboration and develop plans for assistance between emergency response, public health, and poison control. It identifies the potential outcomes of these bridges such as improved disaster
communication and mitigation of public anxiety and prevention of avoidable surges in medical need during disasters. It also suggests that this collaboration can ensure greater consistency and
continuity in response operations and has the potential to provide financial support to the poison control system while simultaneously offering benefits to public health and emergency response.
By planning for the many ways these organizations can assist one another and work together, we have the potential to impact overall disaster and emergency planning and response.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The author would like to acknowledge and thank the poison center representatives who have taken the time to speak about their centers and thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments. She would
also like to thank Lisa McCormick, Dr. Peter Ginter and Dr. Nir Menachemi for their encouragement and guidance in the development of this paper.
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SUGGESTED CITATION:
Yeager, Valerie A. “Emergency Response, Public Health and Poison Control: Logical Linkages for Successful Risk Communication and Improved Disaster and Mass Incident Response.” Homeland Security Affairs V, no. 3 (September 2009)http://www.hsaj.org/?article=5.3.2