The National Governors Association (NGA) hosted a webinar to announce the release of the Governors Public Health Emergency Playbook, the cumulation of a yearlong effort to capture and share best practices in an action-oriented format with Governors’ offices preparing for, responding to, and recovering from public health emergencies that impact states and territories regularly.
The Playbook was developed through significant research and extensive interviews with federal, state, and local entities to capture best practices. The Playbook was also informed by insights from state and territorial leaders at a 2023 workshop focused on preparing for future public health emergencies that was jointly hosted by NGA and the Association for State and Territorial Health Officials. Collectively, the perspectives of more than 30 states and territories, as well as key federal agencies, contributed to the development of the Playbook.
The discussion during the Webinar also included state subject matter experts sharing their perspectives on implementing promising practices to identify and respond to future public health threats, enhancing public health infrastructure, and responding to concurrent emergencies.
Additional topics discussed, among others, included:
- Governors building a culture of preparedness within their state plays a significant role in strengthening the state’s response to a crisis.
- Establishing a rhythm of coordination for emergencies through tabletop exercises or other efforts across agencies and departments in advance of a crisis will make a response more efficient.
- Governors use of structures like task forces and similar structures through emergency management principles to focus, prioritize, and organize responses to key public health issues.
The Playbook was prepared by the NGA Center for Best Practices in consultation with Avoq. This work, along with the workshop, was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Transcript available on YouTube
Presenters
- Jessica Davenport, Program Director for Homeland Security, NGA
- Lauren Dedon, Senior Legal Policy Advisor, NGA
- Nathan Weed, Chief of Resiliency and Health Security, Washington State Health Department
- Kevin Klein, Director and Homeland Security Advisor, Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
- Jamie Birch, Policy Director, Office of Governor Mike Parson
