Cities Readiness Initiative

Public Health Preparedness Exercise

May 4th and 5th, 2009

The Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) is a grant program from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) designed to prepare the City of Hartford to provide mass prophylaxis antibiotics quickly and efficiently in response to any possible public health emergency, such as a terrorist release of anthrax.  The City of Hartford Department of Health and Human Services, along with many regional volunteers, would be responsible for establishing a “Mega-POD” (Point of Dispensing) designed to distribute these critical medicines to as many as 250,000 individuals in a 48-hour period.

 

On May 4th and 5th, 2009, the CRI team conducted a functional exercise to test our readiness and to identify any possible improvements needed to implement the strongest plan possible to protect the public.  With the help of many volunteers, city staff assigned to the Public Health Emergency Response Team and the Medical Reserve Core, we conducted this exercise and gained invaluable experience!