Note: This is day 10 of National Preparedness Month. Follow this year’s campaign on Twitter by searching for the #NPM and #NPM13 hash tags.
This month, as part of NPM13, I’ll be rerunning some edited and updated older preparedness essays, along with some new ones.
# 7748
The task of creating emergency & disaster plans for agencies, organizations, communities, and businesses can be a daunting one, particularly now when resources (read: time, money, & personnel) are in short supply. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a pioneer, since others have gone before you and are willing to share what they’ve learned.
The access them is through the Public Health Practices project - a freely accessible repository of public health tools and strategies, sponsored by CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
Here you’ll find more than 400 practices gleaned from across the nation, geared to specific emergencies, vendors, and audiences. .
While originally pandemic influenza centric, over the past two years Public Health Practices has broadened its scope to include more than just pandemic response. You’ll find tools and practices that cover a wide range of public health concerns, including chemical, radiological, and natural disasters.
From Bioterrorism to Volcanoes, Public Health Practices has you covered
You’ll find ample resources, including toolkits, outlines, and training modules available. 
As an example, last month in WHO: Homecare Advice For Mild MERS-CoV Cases I featured a pandemic influenza home treatment guide from the Santa Clara County Health Department, California which is available on CIDRAP’s Public Health Practices website.
The Home Care Guide provides the public with a comprehensive description of how to care for sick family members at home during a pandemic. It includes lists of emergency supplies, guidelines on how to limit the spread of disease at home, instructions on how to take care of sick household members safely and effectively and basic information about pandemic flu. This guide was created prior to the emergence of novel H1N1 flu virus in 2009. Therefore, the fact sheets located under the attachments tab in the guide contain some generalized information about pandemics, as well as information about avian influenza that may need to be updated. The guide is available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
And in June, in PHP: Dealing With Chronic Illness During A Disaster, their June email update – just in time for the Atlantic Hurricane Season – contained links to toolkits designed for people who must deal with chronic illnesses during times of disaster, including emergency responders.
Whether you are looking for a specific solution, or simply looking for muse to inspire your organization’s emergency preparedness efforts, visiting Public Health Practices – and returning often – will likely pay tremendous dividends.
You can also follow Public Health Practices on twitter at @PHPractices.
