Cross-sector emergency planning for water supply utilities and healthcare facilities.

The purpose of this article is to outline the criticality of water supply in sustained operations of healthcare facilities, particularly during community emergencies, and to advocate for enhanced cross-sector support from the water utilities in meeting this need. Information and ideas presented here were developed in the course of a regional project sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) for development of emergency water supply operations plans for critical water uses in the Washington, DC, area.

A pilot assessment of hospital preparedness for bioterrorism events.

Objective: Lessons on question content and refinement of a 2003 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-Health Resources Services Administration (AHRQ-HRSA) pilot hospital preparedness assessment tool designed to capture activities in more detail than previous studies are reported in this study.

Methods: Responses from fixed-choice questions, including organizational and geographical differences, were analyzed using the chi-square test. Open-ended questions were evaluated qualitatively.