The Strategic National Stockpile is a national repository of antibiotics, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, life-support medications, IV administration, airway maintenance supplies, and medical/surgical items which are stored in a few locations around the country. The stockpile is designed to supplement public health agencies in case there’s a national emergency anywhere and at anytime within the U.S. or its territories. At the beginning of the H1N1 pandemic, Arizona received and distributed hundreds of thousands of treatment courses of antiviral medication and other hospital supplies. We turned around our supplies and shipped everything to their final destinations at the local health departments within 36 hours.
Each year the CDC comes out to “grade” our readiness by reviewing our plans, exercises, our execution during actual events (e.g. H1N1) and our after action reports. This week, our project officer gave us a final grade of A+ or 97%.
Well done Preparedness Team.
The reviewer gave us glowing commendations for factors including leadership support, effective coordination and collaboration with the state/local/private sectors (Scott Voss & Kaitlin Henslee), and development and implementation of a multi-year Training and Exercise Plan (Andrew Lawless). We already knew we were ready because we smoked the H1N1 stockpile distribution, but it’s nice to know that we’re still in crackerjack shape.
