COVID-19 has proven among the worst public health crises in a generation. Public health emergencies (PHE) have always been anticipated. Despite the growing field of PHE preparedness and planning since the turn of the twenty-first century and the preparedness plans and exercises developed, the U.S. experienced a suboptimal national response to the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 compared to other countries.

To explore the U.S. PHE preparedness enterprise, the National Academies Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies convened a workshop in May 2022. They invited participants from government, NGO, and private sector organizations to consider key components, success stories, and failure points in order to identify opportunities for more effective catastrophic disaster, pandemic, and other large scale PHEs planning at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels. This Proceedings of a Workshop summarizes the discussions held during the workshop.

Table of Contents

Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 Public Health Emergency Planning: Lessons from the Past and Present for the Future 3 Coordinating Surveillance and Medical Countermeasure Response 4 Equity, Risk Communication, and Public Engagement 5 Coordination, Government, and Leadership 6 Reflections References Appendix A: Workshop Agenda Appendix B: Speaker and Planning Committee Biosketches