In the United States, the field of public health emergency preparedness system research has been supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since the release of the 2008 Institute of Medicine letter report. The first definition of public health emergency preparedness appeared in 2007, and before 2008 there was a lack of research and empirical evidence across all 4 research areas identified by the Institute of Medicine. This field can be considered relatively new compared with other research areas in public health; for example, tobacco control research can rely on more than 70 years of knowledge production. However, this review demonstrates that, during the past 7 years, public health emergency preparedness system research has evolved from generic inquiry to the analysis of specific interventions with more empirical studies. Public Health Implications: The results of this review provide an evidence base for public health practitioners responsible for enhancing key components of preparedness and response such as communication, training, and planning efforts.

Objective: Public health and emergency management agencies play a critical role in addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in preparation for and in response to emergencies. Identifying and leveraging community assets is a way to address such needs. This study focuses on the development of a process and tools to engage community leaders in sharing their knowledge about their community characteristics and assets useful for emergency planning. Methods: We conducted interviews with community leaders across five study sites with the goal of understanding what type of local knowledge community leaders are able to share in regard to emergency preparedness. Based on the interview results we developed and tested a mobile application as a mobile friendly directory of community assets. Results: We identified two main types of local knowledge about community assets for emergency preparedness: communication-based and trust-based local knowledge. We created an application to facilitate the sharing of such knowledge. Community leaders were able to share local knowledge across four areas: communication-based assets, trust-based assets, spatial-based assets and personal-preparedness assets. Conclusion: Community leaders’ engagement in preparedness efforts is important to identify community assets that can be leveraged to address the needs of the most vulnerable segments of a community.

Introduction Public health and emergency management agencies play a critical role in addressing the needs of vulnerable populations in preparation for and in response to emergencies. Identifying and leveraging community assets is a way to address such needs. Local knowledge about community assets is a valuable and untapped resource that can be leveraged for disaster response and recovery efforts. This study focuses on the development of a process and tools to engage community leaders in sharing their knowledge about their community characteristics and assets useful for emergency planning. Methods We conducted interviews with community leaders across five study sites with the goal of understanding what type of local knowledge community leaders are able to share in regards to emergency preparedness. Interview questions focused on community challenges and assets that could be useful to plan for emergencies. Based on the interviews results we developed and tested a mobile application to generate a directory and map of community assets. Subsequently, we hosted five community meetings and two tabletop exercises to gather feedback, from community leaders and preparedness planners, on the utility of the local knowledge data produced and on the use of the mobile application to gather and share such knowledge. Results Based on the interviews results we identified two main types of local knowledge about community assets for emergency preparedness: communication-based and trust-based local knowledge. Interviews data were used to develop a directory of community assets embedded into a mobile application to be used by community leaders to share the location and point of access of specific community assets based on their knowledge. Preparedness planners, who tested the application during a tabletop exercise, found it a useful tool to raise awareness about community assets and enhance planning efforts for vulnerable populations. Conclusion Community leaders engagement in preparedness efforts is important to identify community assets that can be leveraged to address the needs of the most vulnerable segments of a community. The use of a directory of community assets, embedded in a mobile application, can enhance information sharing between community leaders and preparedness planners and facilitate the integration of community assets into preparedness efforts.