Public Health Emergency Researchers:
Information for Radiation Emergencies

• Public Health Emergency Research
• National Health Security Preparedness Index
• HHS/ASPR Public Health Emergency Research Initiatives
• References
• See also: Data Elements to Collect During Radiation Emergencies

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Public Health Emergency Research

• Lurie N, Keusch GT, Dzau VJ. Urgent lessons from COVID 19: why the world needs a standing, coordinated system and sustainable financing for global research and development. Lancet. 2021 Mar 27;397(10280):1229-1236. [PubMed Citation]
• Understanding and improving medical preparedness and response during mass casualty incidents is an increasingly important area of research.
• Involves applying scientific processes to development of public policy, protecting public health, studying and enhancing responder safety and health, and environmental issues related to assessment, protection, and remediation.
• Selected articles and references on this page noted below are relevant to
  • Establishing and evaluating benchmarks for preparedness
  • Learning from actual incidents
  • Preparedness and responses generally, not radiation incidents specifically.
• Long-Term Health Monitoring of Populations Following a Nuclear or Radiological Incident in the United States, Proceedings of a Workshop (NASEM, 2019)
  • Reviews the process for preparing a radiation registry for monitoring long-term health effects of populations affected by a nuclear or radiological incident.
  • Assesses existing information, useful practices, and tools for planning a radiation registry that will enhance incident monitoring and response methods.
• A Framework for Assessing Mortality and Morbidity after Large-Scale Disasters, Consensus Study Report (NASEM, 2020)
  • Reviews and describes the current state of the field of disaster-related mortality and significant morbidity assessment.
  • Examines practices and methods for data collection, recording, sharing, and use across state, local, tribal, and territorial stakeholders; evaluates best practices.
  • Identifies areas for future resource investment.

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National Health Security Preparedness Index (NHSPI)

• Launched in 2013, it is "the most comprehensive measure of the nation's health security preparedness to date".
• Uses primarily existing (already collected), public-use, public health and health care system measures and compares these data against key national standards for preparedness.
• Overview
• Index evaluations by state
• Recent publications
  • Uzun Jacobson E, Inglesby T, Khan AS, Rajotte JC, Burhans RL, Slemp CC, Links JM. Design of the national health security preparedness index. Biosecur Bioterror. 2014 May-Jun;12(3):122-31. [PubMed Citation]
  • Lumpkin JR, Miller YK, Inglesby T, Links JM, Schwartz AT, Slemp CC, Burhans RL, Blumenstock J, Khan AS. The importance of establishing a national health security preparedness index. Biosecur Bioterror. 2013 Mar;11(1):81-7. [PubMed Citation]
• Additions to this bibliography will appear in future updates to REMM.

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HHS/ASPR Public Health Emergency Research Initiative

• Science Preparedness (HHS/ASPR) — Scientific research framework that can enable emergency planners, responders and the whole community to better prepare for, respond to, and recover from major public health emergencies
• Public Health Emergency Research Review Board (PDF - 1.6 MB) (PHERRB, 2012, see pages 87, 115)
  • Serves as IRB of record by conducting expedited human subject protection review for proposed public health emergency research studies
  • Supplements the review from local institutions by providing regulatory review
  • NIH designated to maintain PHERRB infrastructure withinin the Office of Human Subjects Research Protection (OHSRP)
  • Protocols are usually multisite studies
• Created partnership with Institute of Medicine to convene meetings quickly to assess research opportunities during responses to disasters or outbreaks (See below.)
• Sponsored workshops and Exercises
  • Call to Action: include scientific investigations as an integral component of disaster planning and response (PDF - 368 KB) (April 2011)
  • ASPR Scientific Preparedness and Response for Public Health Emergencies Workshop (PDF - 194 KB) (Sept 2012)
  • Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of the Academic Biomedical Research Community: Protecting the Nation’s Investment (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017)
  • The Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through: Consensus Study Report (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018)

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References:

HHS

1. Single IRB Policy for Multi-site Research: NIH guidelines
   • Learn about policy expectations for the use of single IRBs for multi-site grant applications
2. Coleman, C., Bader, J., Koerner, J., Hrdina, C., et al. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) Science and the CBRNE Science Medical Operations Science Support Expert (CMOSSE). Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2019 Jun 17:1-16. [PubMed Citation]
3. Lurie N, Manolio T, Patterson AP, Collins F, Frieden T. Research as a part of public health emergency response. N Engl J Med. 2013 Mar 28;368(13):1251-5. [PubMed Citation]
4. Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) (NIH/NLM)

WHO

1. WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health and Disaster Risk Management (WHO 2018-2022 implementation)
2. Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2020 (WHO, 2015)
   • WHO Technical Guidance Notes on Sendai Framework Reporting for Ministries of Health (WHO, Nov 2020)
   • Hazard Definition and Classification Review (WHO/UNDRR, 2020)
   • Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Framework (WHO, 2019)
3. Ethics in Epidemics, Emergencies and Disasters: Research, Surveillance and Patient Care (WHO, 2015)
4. UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (WHO/UNDRR)

Other

1. Building a National Capability to Monitor and Assess Medical Countermeasure Use during a Public Health Emergency, Going Beyond the Last Mile (Proceedings of a Workshop, National Academy of Science, 2017)
2. Methodologies for Evaluating and Grading Evidence: Considerations for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief (NASEM, 2019)
3. Murphy DJ, Rubinson L, Blum J, Isakov A, Bhagwanjee S, Cairns CB, Cobb JP, Sevransky JE; United States Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group - Program for Emergency Preparedness. Development of a Core Clinical Dataset to Characterize Serious Illness, Injuries, and Resource Requirements for Acute Medical Responses to Public Health Emergencies. Crit Care Med. 2015 Nov;43(11):2403-8. [PubMed Citation]
4. Piltch-Loeb R, Kraemer JD, Nelson C, Stoto MA. A public health emergency preparedness critical incident registry. Biosecur Bioterror. 2014 May-Jun;12(3):132-43. [PubMed Citation]
5. Savoia E, Preston J, Biddinger PD. A Consensus Process on the Use of Exercises and After Action Reports to Assess and Improve Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013 Mar 28:1-3. [PubMed Citation]
6. Engaging the Public in Critical Disaster Planning and Decision Making. (Institute of Medicine, August 23, 2013)
7. Decker JA, Kiefer M, Reissman DB, Funk R, Halpin J, Bernard B, Ehrenberg RL, Schuler CR, Whelan E, Myers K, Howard J. A decision process for determining whether to conduct responder health research following large disasters. Am J Disaster Med. 2013 Winter;8(1):25-33. [PubMed Citation]
8. Chan JL, Burkle FM Jr. A framework and methodology for navigating disaster and global health in crisis literature. PLoS Curr. 2013 Apr 4;5. [PubMed Citation]
9. Roy N, Thakkar P, Shah H. Developing-world disaster research: present evidence and future priorities. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2011 Jun;5(2):112-6. [PubMed Citation]
10. A National Agenda for Public Health Systems Research on Emergency Preparedness. RAND Corporation, Technical Report 660.
11. Public Health Preparedness and Response to Chemical and Radiological Incidents, Functions, Practices and Areas for Future Work. RAND Corporation, Technical report 719.