Strategic National Stockpile

The Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is the United States' national repository of antibiotics, vaccines, chemical antidotes, antitoxins and other critical medical equipment and supplies. In the event of a national emergency involving bioterrorism or a natural pandemic, the SNS has the capability to supplement and re-supply local health authorities that may be overwhelmed by the crisis, with response time as little as 12 hours.^[1] The SNS is jointly run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Homeland Security.^[2]

Operations

The Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS) successfully deployed 12-hour "Push Packages" to New York City and Washington, D.C. in response to 9/11 and Managed Inventory (MI) to numerous locations in response to the anthrax terrorist attacks of 2001. These so-called push packages are warehoused in a dozen, classified, non-descript facilities under 24-hour, contractor armed guard protection. Geographically situated to allow rapid delivery anywhere in the Continental U.S., material will deploy by unmarked trucks and/or airplanes within 12 hours of the receipt of the request by CDC. The U.S. Marshal provides armed security from these federal sites to local destinations.

Following landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf coast of Mississippi and Louisiana in September 2005, CDC deployed SNS assets, technical assistance and response units, plus federal medical contingency stations to state-approved locations near or in the disaster areas. Disaster responses to Hurricane Katrina included new "Federal Medical Stations" (FMS) -- austere, rapidly deployed, minimal care medical kits capable of housing, triaging and holding displaced patients for whom local acute care systems are incapacitated.

FMS-equipped facilities are not designed for routine, comprehensive community care. FMCS is intended to offer last-resort care and life support for critical-care patients during situations in which normal, day-to-day operations are disrupted. CDC is now developing rules under which staff operations can surge from normal 8 hour days to unrestricted work hours; rules governing the scope of care FMCS was designed to support, and systems to standardize and automate CDC business processes.

The SNS released one-quarter of its antiviral drug inventory (Tamiflu and Relenza), personal protective equipment (PPE) and respiratory protection devices to help every US state respond to the H1N1 Influenza 2009 swine influenza outbreak in the United States, as of April 27, 2009, 1PM. ^[3]

References

1. ^ Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 2009-04-18.
2. ^ Whitworth, Mark H. (2006-11-01). "Designing the response to an anthrax attack". Interfaces. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-33328058_ITM. Retrieved 2009-04-18. 
3. ^ http://cdc.gov/swineflu/index.htm

External links

• Official Site