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www.publichealthlaw.net
Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness Checklist
Civil Legal Liability and Public Health Emergencies
December 2004
A. Introduction. This is one of three checklists prepared by the Center for Law and the Public’s
Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities (Center) for voluntary use by county, city,
state, and federal public health agencies in assessing their legal preparedness for public health
emergencies. In this context, public health emergencies include bioterrorist and other intentional
attacks, emerging infectious disease epidemics, natural disasters, and other events with potentially
catastrophic impacts on human health.
B. Background. State, county, and city public health departments are the front line of the Nation’s
defense against a wide spectrum of public health emergencies. Following the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, and the immediately ensuing anthrax attacks, these agencies have acted
decisively to strengthen their public health emergency response capacity. In partnership with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), other federal agencies, and national public health
organizations, they have bolstered their disease surveillance and investigation abilities, built new
telecommunications and laboratory testing capacity, trained staff in advanced emergency response
skills, developed joint operating protocols with emergency management agencies, and taken action on
additional, related fronts.
Legal preparedness is an integral part of comprehensive preparedness for public health emergencies.
To assess their existing legal preparedness, state health departments have made extensive use of the
draft Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, researched and published in December 2001 by the
Center at the request of CDC.
Ongoing contact with state and local public health agencies indic