Improving Laws and Legal Authorities for Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness

Abstract

This paper is one of the four interrelated action agenda papers resulting from the National Summit on Public Health Legal Preparedness (Summit) convened in June 2007 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and multi-disciplinary partners. Each of the action agenda papers deals with one of the four core elements of legal preparedness: laws and legal authorities; competency in using those laws; coordination of law-based public health actions; and information. Options presented in this paper are for consideration by policymakers and practitioners — in all jurisdictions and all relevant sectors and disciplines — with responsibilities for all-hazards emergency preparedness.One expert's framing of the mission of public health may help improve understanding of the range of hazards for which to be legally prepared. These hazards include urgent realities — such as chronic disease, injury, disabilities, conventional communicable diseases, and an aging and obese population — and urgent threats, such as pandemic influenza, natural disasters, and terrorism.

Review of the UNC Team Epi-Aid Graduate Student Epidemiology Response Program Six Years after Implementation

“…While it can be challenging to navigate the legal aspects of having students volunteer, many states have liability protection for volunteers who assist during a public health emergency response. 9 For more routine activations, it is important that students and health departments understand the legal implications of working as a volunteer.…”

Impact of Tabletop Exercises on Participants’ Knowledge of and Confidence in Legal Authorities for Infectious Disease Emergencies

“…The recommendations provided focused on each of the 4 core elements of legal preparedness: legal authorities to support necessary public health activities, competencies of public health professionals, coordination of the application of laws across jurisdictions (local, state, tribal, federal, and international) and across multiple sectors, and information and best practices in public health law. [3][4][5][6] In particular, responding to identified gaps in current legal preparedness competencies, the panelists proposed specific strategies to improve such competencies: expanding the range of sectors that should have competency in public health legal preparedness, improving competency specification, disseminating competency information to key target audiences, and improving measurement and evaluation of practice impacts. With regard to the latter activity, drills and exercises were suggested as an appropriate setting to assess legal practices.…”