States’ Response To Health Emergencies Analyzed

How prepared is your state for major health emergencies?

From a press release issued earlier today by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF):

In the 10th annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report, 35 states and Washington, D.C. scored a six or lower on 10 key indicators of public health preparedness.

The report, issued by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), found that while there has been significant progress toward improving public health preparedness over the past 10 years, particularly in core capabilities, there continue to be persistent gaps in the country’s ability to respond to health emergencies, ranging from bioterrorist threats to serious disease outbreaks to extreme weather events.

In the report, Kansas and Montana scored lowest—three out of 10—and Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin scored highest—eight out of 10…

(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)

“There continue to be persistent gaps in the country’s ability to respond to health emergencies, ranging from bioterrorist threats to serious disease outbreaks to extreme weather events.”

I’m not surprised. Just one more reason preparedness makes an awful lot of sense these days.

Illinois, where I currently live, received a score of 5 out of 10 possible points in the report.

Boo!

Wisconsin, where I’m planning on moving to down the road, received 8 out of a possible 10 points (as noted in the report).

Nice.

You can read Ready or Not? in its entirety here on the RWJF website or here on the TFAH site.