Online compendium to aid emergency preparedness launches

To better ease health impacts due to emergency situations, the HHS has launched an online compendium to guide state, tribal, territorial and local officials to available federal resources and capabilities, according to a press release.

“HHS and our federal partners offer an array of products and services to support communities in emergency situations, but sometimes finding what’s available and how to access those resources can be challenging. With the compendium, our partners know what resources they can count on when they need it most and, importantly, how to request them,” Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH, HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response, said in a press release.

The HHS Response and Recovery Resources Compendium website, which was sponsored by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, will showcase available HHS products, services and capabilities to help aid officials in guiding communities through emergency situations.

A total of 24 categories, ranging from patient movement to decontamination, will be available on the site including available medical personnel, geographic information systems, such as the emPOWER map, along with various other resources to help communities prepare, respond and recover from disasters, according to the release.

This launch happens just weeks after the HHS awarded nearly $840 million to the Hospital Preparedness Program and the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program, to aid development and maintenance of emergency preparedness efforts, as previously reported on Healio.com/Internal Medicine.