Emergency Preparedness | Center for Law and the Public's Health

The Center has been at the forefront of developing and assessing legal approaches to enhance emergency preparedness and response efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. Center faculty contributed to the development of the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, and have worked closely with the public health practice community to translate and disseminate their scholarly findings.

Selected Projects:

Effect of Variations in State Emergency Preparedness Laws on the Public Health Workforce’s Willingness to Respond in Emergencies
Legal and Ethical Assessment Concerning Mental and Behavioral Health Preparedness
Our Covid Data Project Is Over, but the Need for Timely Data Is Not

Selected Publications:

Rutkow L, Paul A, Taylor HA, Barnett DJ. Perceived facilitators and barriers to local health department workers’ participation in infectious disease emergency responses. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2017;23(6):644-650.
Rutkow L. An analysis of state public health emergency declarations. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(9):1601-1605.
Rutkow L, Vernick JS, Gakh M, Siegel J, Thompson CB, Barnett DJ. The public health workforce and willingness to respond to emergencies: a 50-state analysis of potentially influential laws. J Law Med Ethics. 2014;42(1):64-71.
Rutkow L, Vernick JS, Semon NL, Flowers A, Errett NA, Links JM. Translating legal research on mental and behavioral health during emergencies for the public health workforce. Public Health Rep. 2014;129(Suppl 4):123-128.
Vernick JS, Gakh M, Rutkow L. Emergency detention of persons with certain mental disorders during public health disasters: legal and policy issues. Am J Disaster Med. 2012;7(4):295-302.