“The Challenge of Preparing for the Unexpected with Public Health Emergencies”

The speaker, Stephen Redd, is the director of Public Health service and implementation science and the director for the center for preparedness and response at the centers for disease control and prevention. The CDC organization is a federal agency that supports health promotion and also deals with prevention and preparedness in the US. In Dr. Redd’s speech he explores the types of emergencies happening and what is driving them. When he focused on emergencies he talked about specific incidence he has dealt with. The first case study was for a pandemic of influenza. He was assigned to study and observe any correlation between cases in California and Mexico, which lead to other cases in different states near the west coast. Because the US health systems were better prepared and equipped to this viral infection,  the cases in Mexico were far more severe than any others. The second case study discussed was for the Ebola outbreak in 2014. The originated areas that were impacted the most by this virus were regions of central and east Africa such as, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Dr. Redd spoke of the Ebola cases in Dallas, Texas. The indecisive study information brought fear to the US because our advanced health system could not defeat and protect ill patients due to our lack of knowledge and preparation. They had dealt with Ebola in the regions of Africa but did not prepare for when it came to the US, doctors did not have the correct information to properly diagnose it. CDC’s method process after was to screen airports, revise PPE guidance reassessed, update monitoring and movement guidance released, and asses and prepare the healthcare system. This plan was put in place shortly after the cases appeared and now no one has contracted Ebola in the US since. The driving factors of emergencies Dr. Redd discussed were population growth, international border crossing, exposure from domesticated animals, and technology. All of these factors are rising and bringing harm to the people of the US. Although we always try to be prepared for emergencies, It is important that our country work with health systems in other countries, our workforce be prepared, acknowledge current outbreaks worldwide, and greater communication to the public during emergencies. Dr. Redd says that communication is everything and the key for our country to be able to take on all future emergencies.

This relates to our class due to many different factors. Emergencies could happen because of natural disasters, chemical or radiological accidents, etc. all of which are environmentally based. Although, it was not really talked about much in the presentation it is a very common emergency.  When natural disasters or chemical spills happen it can dramatically hurt not only the environment but the people in the region, which results in an emergency. It could also relate back to the triple bottom line model. When emergencies happen every part of the model is affected rather it is from social due to people getting sick or hurt and then it therefore effects the economic section because people are not able to keep an economy going while people are in an emergency. And lastly, the environment will also be affected directly because of emergencies like a natural disaster.