Web Conference Call Series

Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is conducting a series of free Web-assisted conference calls on bioterrorism and health system preparedness. These 90-minute Web conferences are designed to share the latest health services research findings, promising practices, and other important information with State and local health officials and key health systems decisionmakers.

Surge Capacity and Health System Preparedness

Surge capacity is a health care system's ability to rapidly expand beyond normal services to meet the increased demand for qualified personnel, medical care, and public health in the event of bioterrorism or other large-scale public health emergencies or disasters.

The 2004 series includes three topics:

Surge Capacity for Mass Casualty (October 26, 2004) 2-3:30 p.m., EDT.
This Web conference will explore some of the key issues surrounding surge capacity planning for mass casualty events, identify tools that can be used by planners to ensure the delivery of effective medical care, and highlight innovative practices for responding to significantly increased requirements.
Facilities and Equipment (July 13, 2004).
Surge Capacity: Education and Training for a Qualified Workforce (March 2, 2004).

Registration

To register for future calls, go to: www.hsrnet.net/ahrq/surgecapacity/

Questions about the registration process should be addressed to:

Maureen Ball
Health Systems Research, Inc.
Phone: (202) 828-5100, ext. 122
E-mail: MBall@hsrnet.com

2003 Series

Topics for the first five calls were:

Smallpox Immunization Issues, Strategies, and Tools (March 3, 2003).
Disaster Planning and Readiness Assessment (April 15, 2003).
Surge Capacity Assessments and Regionalization Issues (June 17, 2003).
The Role of Information/Communication Technology and Monitoring/Surveillance Systems in Bioterrorism Preparedness (October 21, 2003).
Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies: Linkages with Community Providers (December 16, 2003).

Additional Program Information

If you have any substantive questions about AHRQ's bioterrorism and health system preparedness program, contact:

Dr. Sally Phillips
Director, Bioterrorism Preparedness Research Program
Center for Primary Care Research
Phone: (301) 427-1571
E-mail: SPhillip@ahrq.gov

Deactivation Notice: Program Announcement PAR-03-130
Building the Evidence to Promote Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergency Preparedness in Health Care Systems.

We regret that no funds are available for these grants in 2004. Given the uncertainty of future research grant funds for this initiative, the Program Announcement has been deactivated. AHRQ will not be accepting applications for the January 2005 or 2006 receipt dates.

Current as of October 2004

Internet Citation:

Web Conference Call Series: Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/ulp/biotconf.htm

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