Overview:
Governmental agencies at Federal, State and Local levels have always been obligated to provide for the general welfare of the community. From the days of polio, smallpox and "duck and cover" training, these agencies have shouldered the responsibility of planning and developing response scenarios for just about every contingency that could be imagined. But what happens when the unthinkable doesn't go has planned? Events in the last few years have forever changed the landscape of the types of responses that must be planned for. These responses require new solutions, solutions that are not built on assumptions.

Effective emergency response planning should be based on the premise that all assumptions of the plan have failed, and that infrastructure has been compromised. When conditions for the "unexpected" are not what was expected, flexibility and adaptability become critical in order to adjust to the demands of the event. Planning a response that, by its very design, can adapt to the worst case scenario, will ensure delivery of services to affected persons in the time of an actual emergency will begin to meet the expectations and needs of both the planners and those in need.

Top-Down Planning, Bottom-Up Response

Emergency response planning is not easy. Never was. Never will be. Coupled with the complete infrastructure of today's technology, emergency response solutions cannot be built on a single process, network, technology or logistical distribution model. Moreover, the needs of event planners and those affected can conflict: swift and comprehensive assistance to those in affected by the event is the objective but must be balanced by the need for responsible oversight.

Beginning in 1999, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began developing a plan for coordinated response to a large-scale event. The result of these efforts culminated in the development of the Strategic National Stockpile: a prepared over 50 tons of pharmaceutical and medical supplies needed to respond to attacks of nerve agents, such as sarin, and attacks of biological agents, such as anthrax, plague and tularemia. The mission objective is to have needed assistance to affected persons within twelve hours of the request for help.

Integrated Warehousing Solutions (IWS) has been given the opportunity to bring its extensive expertise in the warehouse management software development field to the forefront of developing a custom version of our software to meet the call from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to have resources available support the large-scale deployment of emergency medical supplies, should it be required. Our application is but one piece of a dynamic response, which has been designed to be simple and streamlined; to remove confusion; to assist and to not overwhelm the end user; and -- we hope -- to see very limited usage.