Projects promise to benefit North Carolina public health
The news these days is filled with cutbacks and layoffs. As economic conditions push us to focus on the immediate needs in our community, we face challenges to keep preparedness capabilities alive and growing. The goal of the North Carolina Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (NCPERRC) is to describe how our current systems function and offer ideas and options for public health decision-makers. The ultimate goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of preparedness systems. In particular, the center is examining 3 types of systems:
- Public health information systems, including surveillance systems (NC DETECT and, in future years, NCEDSS) and the health alerting system (NC HAN)
- Regional response system (PHRSTs)
- Local health department accreditation and its possible role in improving preparedness
Using the 5-year grant awarded to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, researchers from diverse disciplines will bring fresh perspectives and new evidence to aid decision-makers at the North Carolina Division of Public Health, local health departments and districts, incubators, and others.
In addition to providing new information to leaders in North Carolina, the Center will have the opportunity to showcase our state’s innovative preparedness systems so that other states may learn from our experience.
Finally, we hope our research describes the benefits of and improvements to public health preparedness systems to help make the case for sustained funding for public health preparedness systems and infrastructure.