Partnership Urges Additional Funds For Community Readiness
January 18, 2002 - In a Jan. 15 letter to President Bush, the Partnership for Community
Safety highlighted several areas for attention in the upcoming FY 2003
budget to help communities prepare to respond to terrorist attacks.
The letter cited a "critical need for funding to upgrade, modernize
and link frontline responder communication systems and address interoperability
among fire services, law enforcement, ambulance and EMS, hospitals andpublic
health officials." The Partnership also called for improvements
in the nation's capacity for disease surveillance and laboratory identification.
systems, noting "an effective public health and medical response
plan depends upon the ability of individual clinicians, field providers,
and public health departments to quickly detect, accurately diagnose,
rapidly contain and effectively treat an uncommon disease."
The letter also stated, "America's firefighters, paramedics and
other EMS professionals, emergency physicians, all other physicians,
nurses, public health department staff, hospital staff and other frontline
responders must be equipped with the necessary protective equipment
and trained in its proper use."
The AAMC is a member of the Partnership, a coalition of firefighter,
public health and health care provider organizations that includes the
American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and
the American Public Health Association.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Get Washington Highlights
in your Inbox!
| 
