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All-Hazards Health Preparedness

Natural and technological disasters bear strong potential for widespread medical emergencies among populations in the affected area. Hurricanes, fires, tsunamis, and terrorist attacks can strike hard, and they frequently occur with little or no warning. These events often leave people ill, injured, and stranded. Preparedness for health emergencies is essential to addressing the impact of the effects of catastrophic incidents.

Citizens look to all levels of government for help preparing for, reacting to, and mitigating the health effects of catastrophic events. However, we cannot expect one agency to have responsibility for all public health emergency preparedness requirements. An effort this large requires a unified approach across the government augmented by commercial enterprises and non-profit volunteer organizations.

The National Response Framework, 15 National Planning Scenarios, and Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPD) 5, 8, 18, and 21 call for departments and agencies whose missions touch health preparedness to work together to create strategies for and mitigate outcomes of natural and technological disasters. Often, stakeholders also include state, local, territorial, and tribal entities.

Our Capabilities

Booz Allen Hamilton has a proven ability to provide continuity of healthcare operations, health studies and analysis, medical intelligence and health surveillance, medical planning and programming, and operational-level support.  Our all-hazards health preparedness professionals support medical and public health agencies and organizations by offering a full spectrum of health-related readiness activities and processes designed to ensure an organization’s ability to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from major events—especially those for which scale, timing, or unpredictability threaten to overwhelm existing medical and public health capabilities.

To each engagement, we bring:

• A track record of disaster preparedness support. We have supported the government, including the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS); state and local governments; non-governmental organizations; and the commercial sector.
• Experienced staff. Our staff can augment client organizations’ agility and flexibility to address tough challenges. Our experts include emergency managers, planners, medical technologists, clinical providers, public health professionals, epidemiologists, scientists, IT professionals, and statisticians acquainted with the medical community.
• Leading-edge technology solutions. Through modeling and simulation and decision support tools, we help clients plan for potential health preparedness scenarios, such as pandemic flu. Our leading-edge tools, including our syndromic surveillance capability, help identify the early warning signs of a health problem.

Additional Information

• All-Hazards Health Preparedness—This fact sheet highlights Booz Allen’s commitment to bringing a whole-of-government approach to health preparedness.
• Bringing Mission Integration to Health Preparedness and Response—This interview with a Booz Allen health preparedness expert illustrates how the firm helps government organizations work together to understand and prepare for public health crises.
• Health Preparedness—This fact sheet demonstrates Booz Allen’s understanding of the entire emergency management process and the need to implement mitigating strategies.
• Pandemic Simulation—This fact sheet explains how Booz Allen uses realistic pandemic scenarios to estimate disease progression and impact.
• Pandemic Influenza—This fact sheet illustrates Booz Allen’s work around social distancing/telework planning and implementation in the advent of pandemics.
• Health Preparedness for At-Risk Populations—This fact sheet highlights Booz Allen’s understanding of disaster management for at-risk populations.
• Health Preparedness for Special Individuals—This fact sheet covers the comprehensive approach Booz Allen recommends when considering preparedness for individuals with disabilities and special health conditions.
• “When There Is No Cavalry”—This strategy+business article by Douglas Himberger, David Sulek, and Stephen Krill Jr. explains how a megacommunity approach can make all the difference after a serious natural disaster like a hurricane.