Linking public health and emergency preparedenss: 7 "model communities" identified

I found this whole thing fascinating. Partnership on the local level, whether it is on the scale of my howetown (1200 people) or Boston, is the key to any effective emergency response. (Bearing in mind that all emergencies start locally and require at least 72 hours of local self-sufficiency ...)

First here's the original press piece that clued me in:

Eau Claire Honored for Public Health and Emergency Care
Posted: 2:10 PM Dec 13, 2007Last Updated: 2:10 PM Dec 13, 2007

The city of Eau Claire is honored nationally for its work in combining public health with emergency care.

Eau Claire has been recognized by the American Medical Association as one of seven model communities.

The city has to meet numerous requirements to qualify, such as building relationships to prevent and prepare for disease, disasters and other emergencies.

The Eau Claire City- County Health Department says Sacred Heart and Luther Midelfort Hospitals were key players in receiving this honor.
http://www.weau.com/news/headlines/12478836.html

These "results" were published in the journal "Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness." Here's a link to and text of the abstract from PubMed:

Public health and the emergency care community must work together to effectively achieve a state of community-wide disaster preparedness. The identification of model communities with good working relationships between their emergency care community and public health agencies may provide useful information on establishing and strengthening relationships in other communities. Seven model communities were identified: Boston, Massachusetts; Clark County, Nevada; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Erie County, New York; Louisville, Kentucky; Livingston County, New York; and Monroe County, New York. This article describes these communities and provides a summary of common findings. Specifically, we recommend that communities foster respectful working relationships between agency leaders, hold regular face-to-face meetings, educate each other on their expertise and roles during a disaster, develop response plans together, work together on a day-to-day basis, identify and encourage a leader to facilitate these relationships, and share resources.

http://www.dmphp.org/cgi/content/abstract/1/2/142