Speaking Points
	•In a major emergency, public health often provides primary response, therefore must be prepared
	•Importance of close working relationship between public health organizations and hospitals
	•In summary, public health focuses on the health of populations, while medicine focuses on the care of individuals
	Narrative
	Of course I wish I didn’t have to mention September 11th, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  Public health played a huge role here.  Yes, hospitals were prepared for victims, but really no victims came after the first few hours.  It wasn’t a matter of preparedness for mass medical care, so much as a matter of preparedness for mass psychological care, mass protection from environmental hazards – you can see here the dust cloud that covered most of Manhattan and Brooklyn.  It was a matter of preparing to provide longer-term care for the rescuers.  It was a matter of surveillance, which is a public health function, in order to try to figure out what was actually going on: were there rescuers at risk, were there hazards in the environment, was there a concurrent bioterrorist attack, for example.
	*Instructors’ Note: For those teaching this course to a hospital-based audience, this is a good place to talk more about preparedness for hospital coordination, point out the need for hospitals to be closely tied in with public health departments for surveillance.  Also, point out the need for hospitals to have their own disaster plans to deal with issues related to the challenges of providing mass medical care.