- RADM W. Craig Vanderwagen, M.D., Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- James W. Terbush, MD, MPH, CAPT, USN, MC, FS, NORTHCOM Command Surgeon
Individual and Family Preparedness- Bridging the Say Do Gap
- Stephen Ostroff, MD, Director, Bureau of Epidemiology, Pennsylvania Department of Health- State PI Preparedness
- David Songco, Chief Information Officer, National Institute of Child Healthand Human Development, National Institutes of Health
- Erin Streeter, Acting Director, Ready Campaign, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, How the Public Can Prepare for an Influenza Pandemic
- Isaac Weisfuse, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Commissioner, Division of Disease Control, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene- Local PI Preparedness
- Katherine B. Andrus, Assistant General Counsel, Air Transport Association of America, Inc.- Pandemic Planning for the Aviation Sector
- David M. Park, President and CEO of Family Solutions LLC (Former U.S.A.F. Chaplin, U.S.A.F. (retired))
Family Assistance Center Operation for Catastrophic Events
- Dr. Grady Bray, PhD, President & CEO, Bray Associates (former VP of Kenyon International Emergency Services)- Crucial Elements to Your Family Assistance and Training Program
- Peter Teahen, President, International Mass Fatalities Center Picking Up the Pieces: Coping with the Mass Fatalities Response
- Dr. Edward M. Eitzen, Jr., MD, MPH, Senior Partner, Martin, Blanck & Associates (Former Senior Medical Advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services)
- Dr. Randy Culpepper, MD, MPH, Partner, Martin, Blanck & Associates (Commander, Medical Corps (Flight Surgeon), U.S. Navy (retired))

Last year, President Bush outlined the United States strategy to safeguard against the danger of pandemic influenza. The 2006 Preparing for Pandemic Influenza Conference outlined how our government  - and governments around the world -  is improving the nation's ability to detect outbreaks early, expand vaccine production capacity, and stockpile influenza treatments. However, the threat of a major pandemic outbreak still exists and the nation is not as prepared as it should be. 

The 2007 Preparing for Pandemic Influenza Conference will bring together an influential gathering of medical and public health leaders to stress the importance of national, state, and local preparedness to respond to a pandemic so that we can ensure the health and safety of our people in the face of this ominous threat.  The conference will address three crucial areas (that remain a major part of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza):

1) How real is the Pandemic threat today, and how should you prepare to respond at the federal, state, and local levels in the event that an influenza pandemic reaches the United States?

2) How an influenza pandemic can impact your community or business, and what measures should you be taking to ensure business continuity?

3) While a pandemic response is primarily a public health response, what is the best approach to properly communicate an outbreak to your staff, community, other agencies, organizations, and private institutions ? and most importantly ? to ensure families are prepared - in a coordinated and collaborative manner to ensure an effective overall response to such a crisis

• How serious is the pandemic threat today?
• How an influenza pandemic can impact your community or business
• International efforts, community outreach, family preparedness, and other resources
• What measures you should implement to best prepare
• How preparing for the next influenza pandemic can provide benefits now (i.e., improvements in public health infrastructure can have immediate and lasting benefits, and can also mitigate the effect of other epidemics or infectious disease threats)
• The importance of testing your planning assumptions and response capacities, and having the most up-to-date information on potential pandemic strains and subsequent disease
• How to strengthen local capacity to respond to epidemics of influenza
• Current actions and priorities at the federal government level
• Public health guidance for state and local partners
• What, if anything, you can do individually to reduce the risk of pandemic influenza
• How to prepare, maintain, update, and exercise an operational plan that itemized specific roles and responsibilities in the event of an influenza pandemic
• The latest technologies for preparing a pandemic
• Why continuous global surveillance of influenza is essential
• And more!
   

What You Will Learn
 

- What reporters want during a crisis
- What frustrates reporters in a crisis
- Before, during and after a media interview: Do?s and Don?ts
- Developing and delivering effective messages
- Responding to aggressive reporters
 -Avoiding traps and pitfalls
- Rumor control and correcting errors
- Earning trust and credibility
- Communicating complex and technical information
- Acknowledging uncertainty
- Understanding factors that influence public perceptions of risk
 

Agenda

1:00-1:30 pm Registration and BOXED LUNCH: Sponsored by Government*Horizons
1:30-1:45 pm Welcome and Introductions
1:45-2:15pm Inside the Newsroom ? Tony Dorsey
- How Decisions are Made
-  How the Newsroom Functions
2:15-3:00pm Working with the Media in a Crisis ? Tony Dorsey
-  Why Talk to the Media?
-  What Reporters Want During a Crisis
-  What Frustrates Reporters During a Crisis
3:00-3:15pm NETWORKING BREAK: Sponsored by Government*Horizons
3:15-4:30pm Working with the Media in a Crisis ? Tony Dorsey (continued)
-  Why Talk to the Media?
-  What Reporters Want During a Crisis
-  What Frustrates Reporters During a Crisis
4:30pm Adjourn Day One
 

DAY TWO
 

7:30-8:00am CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST: Sponsored by Government*Horizons
8:00-10:00am Effective Risk Communications ? Tim Tinker
-  Templates
- Message Mapping
-  Responding to Scenarios
10:00-10:15am NETWORKING BREAK: Sponsored by Government*Horizons
10:15-12:15pm Putting it Into Practice ? Dorsey and Tinker
-  Before, During and After the Interview: Do?s and Don?ts
-  Challenges, Traps and Pitfalls
-  Responding to an Aggressive Reporter

About Your Instructors
 

Tony Dorsey
Director of Public Affairs for the Washington D.C. Fire Emergency Medical Services Department

• City, County, State and Federal Emergency Planners and Public Health Professionals
• Hospital-based Disaster and Emergency Planners and Healthcare Providers, including doctors, nurses, Paramedics and EMT's, and allied health professionals
• Hospital and Healthcare Administrators, CEO's and COO's
• Clinicians and First Responder Personnel (EMT, paramedics, etc.)
• Primary Medical Care Professionals
• Logisticians and Planners
• Anyone in the emergency and preventive medicine sectors who are concerned with or unsure about  their roles in the response to an influenza pandemic
• Federal Partner Agencies and their personnel who are involved with the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza
• Companies with products, services and solutions designed to aid in US medical response to pandemic disease and mass casualty events

• Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts, Special Project Advisor
• Air Force Pentagon, Deputy HAF Continuity
• American Lung Association
• Americas Blood Centers
• Anderson, Kentucky Health Department, Public Health Director
• ARES Corporation
• Arizona National Guard, SGM JTF
• Arnot Ogden Medical Center, Executive Medical Director, Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine
•  Becton, Dickinson and Company
• Becton, Dickinson and Company
• Bureau of Economic Analysis, Public Affairs Specialist
• California Administrative Office of the Courts, Analyst
• Capital One, Manager, Enterprise Business Continuity
• Cardinal Health, Vice President, Vendor Management & Administration
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Coordinator for Influenza
• Central Washington Hospital, Vice President
• City of Boston, Director of Emergency Services
• City of La Mesa, CA Fire Department, Division Chief
• City of West Haven, CT, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator
• City of Winter Park, Florida, Fire Chief
• Denver Health Medical Center, Associate Director of Emergency Medicine
•  Department of Energy, Physical Scientist
•  Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Occupational Health, Director, Clinical Operations
• Department of Veterans Affairs, Chief, Quality and Performance
• DHHS/OS/OCG, Attorney
• DuPont Government Solutions, Senior Business Development Manager
• DuPont Hospital for Children, Infection Control Coordinator
• Emergisoft Healthcare Information Systems, Chief Executive Officer
• Government Affairs & Corporate Development
• Executive Protection Systems, Special Programs Coordinator
• FDA,
• FDIC, Assistant Director, Division of Administration
• Florida Department of Corrections, Quality Management Program Supervisor
• Food and Drug Administration, Nurse/Consultant
• GEICO Insurance, Print Solution Administrator
• Greenville, SC Hospital System, Manager of Employee Health
• Hammond, Indiana Fire Department, Chief of Emergency Medical Services
• ICF International, Vice President, Counterterrorism and National Security
• Idaho National Laboratory, Division Director, Emergency Services
• Internal Revenue Service, Industrial Hygienist
• Jani-King International, Director of Environmental Services
• Klamath County, Oregon Public Health, Director
• Latah County, Idaho
• Logistics Support Inc., Vice President, Health Services Support
• Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Madison, Co., MO Health Department
• Martin, Blanck & Associates, Inc,
• Michigan Department of Community Health, Deputy Pandemic Influenza Coordinator
• NASA
• National Archives and Records Administration, Continuity and Emergency Program Manager
• National Institutes of Health
• NetJets, Inc., Manager, Global Emergency Response & Continuity
• New York State Insurance Department, Supervising Insurance Examiner
• NIAID, Director
• NIDA, NIH, DHHS, Administrative Officer
• NIEHS National Clearinghouse, Research Associate
• NOAA/NESDIS/OSO, Training Coordinator
• Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Senior Science Advisor supporting the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (former Director, Global Infectious Disease Surveillance & Alert System, School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
• Office of Personnel Management, Chief, Emergency Actions Group
• Pearson Government Solutions, Director
• Phoenix Textile Corporation, Director of Government Services
•  Pike County, KY Health Department, Director of Public Health
• RAMSAFE Technologies
• SAIC
• SAMHSA, Public Health Analyst
• Sedwick County, Kansas Health Department
• Snohomish Co., WA Fire District 1,
• Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness, Former Staff Director
• Symantec 
• Teller Co., Colorado Public Health
• Tennessee Department of Safety
• U.S. Army, Community & Family Support Center, Program Analyst
• US Army Medical Materiel Agency, Army Influenza Vaccine Manager
• US Census Bureau, Safety and Health Manager
• US Department of Agriculture, Avian Influenza Coordination Group
• US Department of Education, Director
• US Department of Treasury
• US Postal Service
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
•  USDA/APHIS/OEMHS, Director
• ValueOptions, Inc., Vice President, Human Resources
• VA Medical Center,
• Virginia Department of Health, Deputy Commissioner for Emergency Preparedness & Response
•  Washington State Department of Health, Communication Systems Manager
• Will County, IL Health Department, Emergency Response Coordinator