Coming as it did right on the heels of my last post, I had to point this out:
RAND Corporation has published an impressive (133 page .pdf) Technical Report on “Recommended Infrastructure Standards for Mass Antibiotic Dispensing.”
“This document presents a set of recommended standards for mass antibiotic dispensing that focus on the “points of dispensing” (or PODs, locations where the members of the public would go to receive life-saving antibiotics or other medical countermeasures during a large-scale public health emergency). Specifically, the standards address (1) the number and location of PODs, (2) internal POD operations, (3) POD staffing, and (4) POD security. This document will be of interest to policymakers and practitioners involved in public health emergency preparedness at all levels of government.
The recommended standards are based on available empirical evidence, computer models, and the experience and consensus of expert practitioners. Given the weakness of existing evidence and tools, as well as the occasional difficulty in developing expert consensus, this report offers alternate versions of some standards. In these instances, policymakers must use their judgment in selecting among the alternatives.”
Among other tools, the report includes a sample spreadsheet for population estimates, a checklist of legal issues and a number of tables and graphs. The report itself, while not an easy read, is well-written enough to be comprehensible to a layperson (such as myself) and continues the RAND corporation’s tradition of contributing thoughtful, well-researched technical information on issues that affect citizens and government at every level.