Response Analysis refers to the analysis of mitigation plans for
emergency or
disaster situations. These emergencies or disasters may be naturally occurring (e.g.
hurricanes,
earthquakes,
disease outbreaks, etc.) or man-made (e.g.
terrorism, bio-terrorism, industrial accidents, chemical spills, etc.). Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the following
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
bio-terror attacks, and the disasters precipitated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, emphasis has been put on the development of mitigation plans to prepare for such situations. The field of response analysis is the effort to analyze, validate, and optimize these mitigation plans using quantitative data and computational tools.
Biological Emergencies
The Cities Readiness Initiative
established a mandate for local governments to develop mitigation plans in advance of biological emergencies and implement such plans during these emergencies. The
Strategic National Stockpile
The Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), originally called the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS), is the United States' national repository of antibiotics, vaccines, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, and other critical medical supplies. Its w ...
was established to support local governments by providing large quantities of needed medications or
vaccinations rapidly. Development of computational tools to analyze and optimize biological emergencies are currently under development at th
University of North Texas Center for Computational Epidemiology and Response Analysis
References
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Disaster preparedness