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

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

References

Jensen J: Before the surgeon general: Marine hospitals in mid-19th-century America. Public Health Rep. 1997; 112: 525-527.

Office of History: Historynihgov. 2017. Available at https://history.nih.gov/research/sources_legislative_chronology.html. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Murthy VH: The Nation’s Mobile Medical Corps: U.S. Public Health Service Meets Health Needs Around the Globe. Washington, DC: Reserve Officers Association, 2017: 73.

Voelker R: What does the US Surgeon General mean to the health of the Nation? JAMA. 2008; 300: 1869-1872.

Grob GN: The Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

National Institute of Health, Office of History: Legislative chronology. January 24, 2017. Available at https://history.nih.gov/research/sources_legislative_chronology.html. Accessed April 24, 2018.

William RC: The United States Public Health Service, 1798-1950. Washington, DC: Commissioned Officers Association of the United States Public Health Service, 1951.

Michael JM: The National Board of Health: 1879-1883. Public Health Rep. 2011; 126(1): 123-129.

MMWR: Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: Control of infectious diseases. 1999. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4829a1.htm. Accessed May 26, 2018.

Pamuk ER, Wagener DK, Molla MT: Achieving national health objectives: The impact on life expectancy and on healthy life expectancy. Am J Public Health. 2004; 94(3): 378-383.

The Editorial Board: 9/11: Finding answers in ashes 16 years later. The New York Times. September 11, 2017. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/opinion/911-medical-examiner-16-years.html. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Farfel M, DiGrande L, Brackbill R, et al.: An overview of 9/11 experiences and respiratory and mental health conditions among World Trade Center Health Registry enrollees. J Urban Health. 2008; 85(6): 880-909.

Lowell A, Suarez-Jimenez B, Helpman L, et al.: 9/11-related PTSD among highly exposed populations: A systematic review 15 years after the attack. Psychol Med. 2018; 48(4): 537-553.

Satcher D: Health security for our nation. Officer. 2002; 78: 54-58.

Babb J, Beck D: Providing care and leadership: In the fight (The U.S. Public Health Service). Officer. 2001; 77(11): 15.

Wagar E: Bioterrorism and the role of the clinical microbiology laboratory. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2016; 29(1): 175-189.

Federal Bureau of Investigations: Amerithrax of anthrax investigation. n.d. Available at https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/amerithrax-or-anthrax-investigation.

Office of Inspector General: The Commissioned Corps’ Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services, 2007. Report No. OEI-09-06-00030. Available at https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-09-06-00030.pdf.

Sheridan MB: Haiti earthquake damage estimated up to$14 billion. The Washington Post. February 17, 2010: A06.

Sun L, Dennis B: U.S. confirms Florida Zika cases are first local transmission in any state. The Washington Post. July 29, 2016. Available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/07/29/florida-announces-zika-is-likely-spreading-by-mosquitoes-in-the-continental-u-s-2/?utm_term=.7ab20de6a9ca. Accessed July 30, 2018.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Zika virus: Pregnancy. November 6, 2017. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/zika/pregnancy/index.html. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Testimony from Lyle Peterson, MD on US Public Health Response to the Zika Virus: Continuing challenges before committee on Energy and Commerce [press release]. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), May 23, 2017. Available at www.HHS.gov. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Zika cases in the United States. 2018. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/zika/reporting/case-counts.html. Accessed May 3, 2018.

Redd S: On Public Health Security, US Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps Defends Public Health at Home and Abroad. 2016. Available at https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USCDC/bulletins/166f5cf. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Outbreaks chronology: Ebola virus disease. July 28, 2017. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/history/chronology.html. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Fact Sheet: U.S. response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. The White House. 2014. Available at https://obamawhitehouse. archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/16/fact-sheet-us-responseebola-epidemic-west-africa. Accessed June 12, 2018.

Lushniak BD: Update on the U.S. public health response to the Ebola outbreak. Public Health Rep. 2015; 130(2): 118-120.

Lushniak BD: The Hope Multipliers: The U.S. Public Health Service in Monrovia. Public Health Rep. 2015; 130(6): 562-565.

Fact Sheet: Progress in our Ebola response at home and abroad. 2015. Available at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-pressoffice/2015/02/11/fact-sheet-progress-our-ebola-response-home-andabroad. Accessed July 29, 2018.

Hartocollis A: A front line against Ebola runs through Newark’s terminal B. The New York Times. August 8, 2014: A17.

Department of Health and Human Services: Fiscal Year 2019, Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund Justification of Estimates for Appropriations Committee. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 2018. Available at www.HHS.gov. Accessed August 14, 2018.

Willingham AJ: A look at the four storms from one brutal hurricane season. CNN. November 21, 2017. Available at https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/weather/hurricane-nate-maria-irma-harveyimpact-look-back-trnd/index.html. Accessed May 3, 2018.

Jansen B: Timeline: Hurricane Irma’s progress to monster storm. USA Today. September 10, 2017. Available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/09/10/timeline-hurricane-irmafluctuating-strgrowing-stronger-weaker-crashed-into-caribbeanislands-florid/651421001/. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Breslin S: Puerto Rico, one month after Hurricane Maria: 3 million without power, 1 million without water. Weather.com. October 20, 2017. Available at https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2017-10-20-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-by-the-numbers. Accessed May 30, 2018.

Testimony from Robert Kadlec, MD on hurricane response before Committee on Energy and Commerce [press release]. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), October 24, 2017. Available at www.HHS.gov. Accessed August 14, 2018.

Huang D: One team, one mission: A perspective from Puerto Rico. coausphs.org. 2018. Available at http://www.coausphs.org/media/1761/jan-feb-frontline-2018_reduced.pdf. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Federal, local efforts closely coordinated to care for Hurricane Maria survivors [press release]. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), October 6, 2017. Available at www.HHS.gov. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Walker J: After disasters, PAs step in to provide critical medical care. American Academy of Pas. December 2017. Available at https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2017/12/disasters-pas-step-provide-critical-medical-care/. Accessed May 10, 2018.

US Department of Health and Human Services: HHS brings medical and public health relief to US territories recovering from Hurricanes Maria, Irma. HHS.gov. September 26, 2017. Available at https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2017/09/26/hhs-brings-medical-and-public-health-relief-us-territories-recovering-hurricanesmaria-irma.html.

Griffin-Oberly J: Osage news. OsagenNews.com. 2017. Available at http://www.osagenews.org/en/article/2017/12/08/local-publichealth-service-officers-deployed-puerto-rico-after-hurricane-maria/. Accessed December 8, 2017.

Coffin PO, Santos GM, Matheson T, et al.: Behavioral intervention to reduce opioid overdose among high-risk persons with opioid use disorder: A pilot randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2017; 12(10): e0183354.

Goodnough A: Surgeon general urges Americans to carry drug that can stop opioid overdoses. The New York Times. April 6, 2018. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/health/opioidsnaloxone-surgeon-general.html. Accessed May 10, 2018.

O’Donnell J: Thank you for your service: Surgeon General’s uniformed corps battles opioid epidemic. USA Today. April 18, 2018. Available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/18/surgeon-general-public-health-fight-opioids/520130002/. Accessed May 10, 2018.

Sun LH: White House wants to cut this public health service corps by nearly 40 percent. The Washington Post. 2018. Available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/06/27/white-house-wants-to-cut-this-public-health-service-corps-by-nearly-40-percent/?utm_term=.5a7af69b67de. Accessed July 25, 2018.

Published

09/01/2018

How to Cite

Sumter, DrPH, J. L., A. Goodrich-Doctor, PhD, J. Roberts, PhD, and T. J. Mason, PhD. “Twenty-First Century Emergency Response Efforts of the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service”. Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 16, no. 5, Sept. 2018, pp. 311-9, doi:10.5055/jem.2018.0380.