# 2390
Lisa Schnirring from CIDRAP News brings us an overview of the new Rand Corporation report to the HHS setting out proposed standards for the operation of PODs (Points of Dispensing) in the wake of a terrorist attack or other public health crisis.
The idea is that PODs would dispense antibiotics, or other medical supplies, to exposed populations within 48 hours. That would be, as you might expect, an enormous challenge.
The Rand Corporation figures that it will take 24 of those 48 hours just to get the pods loaded and in place, leaving only 24 hours to actually dispense needed medications.
Two of the biggest obstacles, according to this study, will be finding personnel to run these PODs and providing security for them.
I've only posted the opening few paragraphs, follow the link to read the entire article.
Rand report proposes standards for mass antibiotic dispensing
Lisa Schnirring
Staff Writer
Oct 15, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – The Rand Corp., responding to a request from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), recently unveiled a set of proposed standards for cities to use as they establish plans to distribute antibiotics to the public in the event of a bioterrorist attack or other public health emergency.
The 133-page technical report, which appears on Rand's Web site, covers four main topics: the number and location of points of dispensing (PODs), internal POD operations, staffing, and security. PODs are places where members of the public would go to receive antibiotics or other countermeasures in an emergency.
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 requires HHS to develop performance standards for public health preparedness, and the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) asked Rand to develop the proposed standards, according to the report.
The standards are geared toward 72 cities that take part in the federal government's Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI), a program launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2004 to prepare major cities and metropolitan areas to distribute antibiotics from the Strategic National Stockpile within 48 hours of a federal order to release them.
You can access the Rand Report Here.
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