Twenty-first century emergency response efforts of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service

Jeffery L. Sumter, DrPH; Adrienne Goodrich-Doctor, PhD; Jill Roberts, PhD; Thomas J. Mason, PhD

doi:10.5055/jem.2018.0380

Authors

Jeffery L. Sumter, DrPH
Adrienne Goodrich-Doctor, PhD
Jill Roberts, PhD
Thomas J. Mason, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2018.0380

Keywords:

Ebola, Zika, Hurricane Maria, Commissioned Corps, Public Health Service

Abstract

The impact of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service (Commissioned Corps) on the health and safety of the nation spans more than two centuries. The public health efforts of the highly qualified health professionals of this often-underreported uniformed service include fighting threats like the great flu pandemic of 1918, the anthrax attacks, Ebola, and natural disasters such as Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Katrina. As we near the first quarter of the twenty-first century, it is important to take a snapshot of the critical contributions and response efforts the Commissioned Corps has made in the first 18 years of the twenty-first century. Today, the Commissioned Corps faces new challenges in the form of emerging diseases and a rapidly growing opioid epidemic, but under the guidance of the US Surgeon General, it remains vigilant and fully capable of minimizing any public health threat it encounters.

Author Biographies

Jeffery L. Sumter, DrPH

Lieutenant Commander, Commissioned Corps of the United Stated Public Health Service (USPHS), Global Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Adrienne Goodrich-Doctor, PhD

Commander, USPHS, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, Maryland

Jill Roberts, PhD

Professor, Department of Global Health, Global Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

Thomas J. Mason, PhD

Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida

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