“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants a new resource for America’s health departments to use to trace sickness and symptoms in the wake of a nuclear disaster.”
“According to a recently released request for proposals, the agency is looking for a hospital morbidity surveillance toolkit to use in emergency response efforts following the detonation of an improvised nuclear device. The final product is expected to include an example tool to collect patient morbidity data, a template to aggregate and report that patient information and a plan for exchanging pertinent data between various medical facilities and the CDC…”
“If nuclear disaster strikes, the CDC is responsible for providing population monitoring and public health surveillance to support the timely response and prevention of injuries and illnesses caused by the event. After radiation emergencies, the agency is also expected to establish a long-term registry to support monitoring of affected people…”
“The agency wants a vendor to develop and pilot testing tools and proof-of-concept processes that state and local agencies can use to conduct morbidity monitoring following a nuclear event, which will ultimately help them better understand what data to capture from hospitalized patients in such emergencies. CDC also plans to test the toolkit during a Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program compliant exercise at a specialized medical facility…” Read the full article here.
Source: CDC Needs Better Tools To Track Sickness, Symptoms In Wake Of Nuclear Disasters – By Brandi Vincent, August 19, 2019. Nextgov.
