Emerging Trends in Public Health
Sharing Session - 60 Minutes
John Dowd, MS, MCHES
Division Head, Public Health Preparedness and Health Education
Middlesex County Office of Health Services
Sherie Wolpert, MPH
Epidemiologist, Coordinator Public Health Preparedness
Middlesex County Office of Health services
In a large scale public health emergency where post exposure prophylaxis is required, traditional Points of Dispensing (PODS) may not be able to reach the necessary priority population within the required 48 hours. The burden on local health agencies to provide medication within the set parameters becomes more difficult with decreasing resources. This Door-to-Door medication distribution program, as an alternate and complementary method of emergency medication dispensing, is designed to alleviate some of the responsibility from the local health agency. This model empowers the municipality to take charge of the program and provide necessary post exposure prophylaxis for their own residents. Crucial to the success of this program is the partnership with non-health agencies, the respect for their needs and skills, and the mutual vision for the common goal of delivering health to their community in a crisis.
This session will review the steps involved from the initial planning stages to the successful full scale drill delivering medication to the entire municipality in June 2018.