SITUATION:
Coordinated Consulting Services (CCS) was hired in 2022 by Carson City Health and Human Services (CCHHS) to develop a pandemic response plan (PRP). The goals of the project were to work closely with CCHHS staff and other subject matter experts, to utilize existing CCHHS plans to develop new plan content, and to draw upon strengths and areas for improvement identified during the COVID-19 response to develop the new PRP. The planning and development work took place from December 2022 through June 2023.
NEED:
In September 2022, CCHHS requested a quote for developing a pandemic response plan for CCHHS. The project required reviewing existing CCHHS plans and relevant documents such as the CCHHS Mass Illness, CCHHS Pandemic Influenza Plan, and the COVID-19 After Action Report (AAR) to bring relevant content into a new pandemic response plan. The CCHHS PRP also needed to be integrated into the Nevada Pandemic Response Plan that had been recently completed in July 2022.
SOLUTION:
After the contract was awarded to CCS, CCS staff worked closely with the CCHHS planning staff to identify a core planning team. The core planning team consisted of the Quad-County Public Health Preparedness Manager, three Public Health Preparedness Planners, and one Epidemiologist. The core planning team assisted with the overall management and direction of plan development; attended and participated in core planning team meetings; reviewed and provided feedback on plan content; and provided direction on the ongoing scope, timeline, and any additional technical assistance. CCS and CCHHS held bi-weekly core planning team meetings throughout plan development from January through early June 2023.
OUTCOME:
The PRP integrated many of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) key pandemic planning frameworks including the Pandemic Severity Assessment Framework and the Pandemic Response Framework. Although the plan utilized these federal frameworks, CCS ensured it also aligned with and provided detailed information relating to CCHHS and the Quad-County region, including:
- Planning Assumptions;
- CCHHS Pandemic Response Plan Activation;
- Roles and Responsibilities;
- Communications and Information Management;
- Epidemiology and Surveillance;
- Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions;
- Vaccines, Antivirals, and Drug Distribution and Use; and Testing
The resulting plan was formally titled the Carson City Health and Human Services Pandemic Response Plan in Support of the Quad-County Region dated June 2023. The plan intends to guide a local public health response to an infectious respiratory disease outbreak. It provides a framework of guidance and operational procedures that can be used by decision makers to support an infectious respiratory disease pandemic response in addition to being used as a foundational structure for other outbreaks beyond respiratory illnesses.
