Mass Prophylaxis Dispensing Concerns: Traffic and Public Access to PODs
Policymakers have become increasingly concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack using a biological agent on a civilian population. In response to this threat, a federally funded effort has been developed to prepare major U.S. cities and metropolitan areas to respond quickly and effectively to a large-scale bioterrorism event.
Points of Dispensing, or PODs, are used by emergency responders to dispense post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to the public following a bioterrorism event. Any failure in PEP dispensing could have serious public health consequences, which is why IEM has focused study efforts on issues related to POD access.
The project described in the paper was partially funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a larger study on PEP dispensing logistics and medical consequences.
Presented by: Dr. Sid Baccam, IEM Computational Epidemiologist
Date: 06-17-11
