CDC Foundation Hosts Pandemic Preparedness Exercise for CDC and Corporate Leadership

Published: April 19, 2007

Dr. Richard Besser (left), director of CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, Dr. Stephen Redd (center), Influenza Team Lead for the CDC's Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases, and Fred Bowman(right),an MPRI training development analyst contractor for CDC, listen to a discussion at CDC Foundation's corporate roundtable.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation is hosting a roundtable pandemic preparedness discussion and exercise for CDC leadership and corporate executives on April 18, 2007, at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. The roundtable meeting will help attendees better anticipate and plan for the challenges that may arise if and when a pandemic of influenza emerges.

"If our nation is to successfully respond to a pandemic of influenza it’s going to take both government and business leaders working together to protect the public’s health," said Charles Stokes, president and chief executive officer of the CDC Foundation. "We are pleased to be able to help facilitate, through this exercise, the building of partnerships necessary to build the nation’s capacity to respond."

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, echoed the comments of Mr. Stokes and added "preparedness is all about people, plans, and practice and this exercise provides another excellent opportunity for CDC to work with the very partners whom the agency will turn to if and when a real pandemic strikes."

Participants at a roundtable discussion hosted by the CDC Foundation listen as Dr. Julie Gerberding (far right) explains CDC's use of exercises for pandemic preparedness.

Both groups of leaders will be presented with a simulated pandemic situation. The exercise is designed to elicit discussion of preparedness plans and response decisions. During the course of the exercise, the groups will review guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CDC, including checklists designed to assist businesses in planning for a pandemic outbreak.

The roundtable meeting will conclude with a discussion of corporate preparedness efforts and effective leadership and national preparedness.

The CDC Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Congress to unite private sector partners and CDC in order to achieve common goals. For more information on the CDC Foundation, please visit www.cdcfoundation.org. For more information on pandemic preparedness, including business preparedness checklists, go to www.pandemicflu.gov.