Emergency Preparedness Closed POD Toolkit

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

In an effort to reach the national goal for dispensing prophylaxis to the 1.2 million resident of Oakland County MI within 48 hours of a bioterrorism incident, local Public Health developed a toolkit and process for use by partner businesses. By using the toolkit, agencies are able to complete a Closed POD Plan with 30 days. The toolkit was developed in partnership with 5 long-term care facilities and one community mental health provider. Their plans were tested in July 2012 during a functional Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) exercise. After the exercise, the Closed POD Toolkit was further simplified to meet the needs of all partners, from small local municipalities to large private businesses. A completed toolkit contains all pertinent information necessary in the event of mass medication dispensing. To date, 14 target facilities have completed plans, while 5 more are working to finalizing their plans. These partnerships with public health have given the County greater capacity to serve the vulnerable and at-risk populations. By utilizing this toolkit, organizations are able to quickly and efficiently develop Closed POD plans that will provide life-saving medications to their employees and residents, who might not be capable of attending larger, crowded open dispensing sites.