Guam Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement - PROJECT ABSTRACT FOR GUAM PHEP PROGRAM Funding provided by the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement, through the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), enables the Guam PHEP Program to develop and implement effective strategies to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural and human-caused incidents or events. Particular emphasis is placed on accelerating training and exercises to improve overall readiness of Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) to respond to public health threats. Furthermore, the cooperative agreement supports the program’s efforts to improve health equity through continued engagement and collaboration with community partners to raise awareness and readiness in all populations across Guam. Unlike continental United States PHEP Programs, the Guam PHEP Program functions as the State, County and Local programs with limited staff to tackle the unique challenges caused by its geographical location. Despite being understaffed for several years, the Guam PHEP program fulfills all programmatic requirements. We continue to collaborate with our community partners to ensure the timely restoration of disrupted public health services, serving a diverse population of over 170,000, including underserved communities. During the upcoming five-year project period, the PHEP program will carry out the following objectives: • Strengthen capabilities and build capacity to respond to complex public health threats by conducting planning workshops, trainings and exercises with an all-hazards approach. • Collaborate with DPHSS Divisions to increase public health workforce readiness by ensuring compliance with NIMS/ICS trainings. • Establish a validated Receive, Stage and Storage (RSS)/Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) facility to enhance public health resource management and distribution. • Develop and update existing all-hazards preparedness and response plans through workshops and seminars to ensure Guam is prepared for chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats, whether naturally occurring, unintentional, or deliberate. • Collaborate with Department of Defense (DoD) and whole community partners for the annual Innovative Readiness Training (IRT/Medical Mission) to deliver no cost healthcare to residents of Guam. The cooperative agreement awarded to the Guam PHEP program to carry out the above objectives will promote a culture of preparedness and resilience for any future threats.
