New Emergency Preparedness Findings from Food and Drug Administration Outlined (An Inter-regional US Blood Supply Simulation Model to Evaluate Blood Availability to Support Planning for Emergency Preparedness and Medical Countermeasures)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Bioterrorism Week -- Investigators publish new report on Emergency Preparedness. According to news reporting originating in Silver Spring, Maryland, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Planning for a response to threats like pandemics or mass casualty events is a national priority. The US blood supply system can be particularly vulnerable to such events."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Food and Drug Administration, "It is important to understand the impacts of emergency situations on blood availability and the resiliency of the US blood supply system. On the basis of the Stock-and-Flow simulation model of the US blood supply system, we developed an inter-regional blood transfer system representing the action of multiple blood collectors and distributors to enable effective planning of strategies to minimize collection and donation disruptions to the blood supply system in the event of a national emergency. We simulated a pandemic or mass casualty event on both a national and an inter-regional blood supply system. Differences in the estimated impacts demonstrated the importance of incorporating spatial and temporal variations of blood collection and utilization across US regions. The absence of blood shortage in both emergency scenarios highlighted the resilience of the inter-regional system to meet the potential associated blood demand."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Our inter-regional model considered complex factors and can be a valuable tool to assist regulatory decision-making and strategic planning for emergency preparedness to avoid and mitigate associated adverse health consequences."

For more information on this research see: An Inter-regional US Blood Supply Simulation Model to Evaluate Blood Availability to Support Planning for Emergency Preparedness and Medical Countermeasures. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 2018;12(2):201-210. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness can be contacted at: Cambridge Univ Press, 32 Avenue Of The Americas, New York, NY 10013-2473, USA (see also Emergency Preparedness).

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting A. Simonetti, Food & Drug Administration, Off Biostat & Epidemiol, Center Biol Evaluat & Res, Silver Spring, MD 20993, United States. Additional authors for this research include H. Ezzeldin, M. Walderhaug, S.A. Anderson and R.A. Forshee.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2017.48. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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