POCATELLO — A new report finds Idaho has become far more prepared for public health emergencies in general, but it raises concerns about the state’s commitment to environmental and occupational health.
The report, released Wednesday by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, assesses how each state’s emergency readiness changed from 2013 through 2019. It’s based on a “sophisticated model informed by experts in public health, emergency management, academia, health care and other sectors,” using data from more than 60 sources.
Idaho scored 6.6 on a 10-point scale for preparedness, which was slightly below the national average of 6.7. Idaho improved by 12 percent during the six-year period, which was equal to the national average.
“This is a tool to track the nation’s progress with putting in place protections that can limit harm to health when there are large-scale disasters and emergencies,” Glen Mays, a professor of health policy at University of Kentucky, told the Journal. “These hazardous events are occurring with increasing intensity and frequency around the globe. Every year, we seem to break a record with the number and cost of these events.”
The brightest spot on the report for Idaho pertained to its strong culture of collaboration among entities involved in emergency response. Idaho was a national leader in use of the Incident Command System, which provides a framework for several agencies to work together efficiently in responding to a common emergency. In that area, Idaho scored 9.5, which Mays believes provides strong evidence that agencies in the state frequently work together in emergency response drills.
“One of the things that is our strength is we work together,” said Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen.
Nielsen emphasized public health officials are included in the the county’s Local Emergency Preparedness Committee, which meets regularly at the sheriff’s office. He said the county has an incident command center, which serves as a response headquarters during emergencies, and the city recently added a center.
Maggie Mann, district director at Southeastern Idaho Public Health, said her organization has participated in Incident Command System training since 2002. During the third week of April, for example, the department participated in a statewide exercise simulating an anthrax response situation.
“Across our state, community stakeholders in preparedness have worked hard to build strong collaborative relationships,” Mann said.
Idaho lost considerable ground, however, in its score related to environmental and occupational health. That category measures a state’s “ability to maintain the security and safety of water and food supplies, to test for hazards and contaminants in the environment and to protect workers and emergency responders.” Idaho’s score dropped from 6 in 2013 to 5.3 in 2019, compared with a 5.9 national average.
Mays explained the state’s Public Health Laboratory, which provides health-related laboratory testing and aids in providing timely health care during emergency events, has been “reporting some diminished detecting capabilities.” The state’s score for biological monitoring and laboratory testing fell by 23 percent from 2013.
Specifically, Mays said Idaho has seen erosion in its abilities to detect chemical agents and test and submit results for E. coli.
“There are states that are quite a bit ahead and are also making larger gains over time,” Mays said. “If that continues, you’re likely to fall further and further behind.”
Mann said there are steep financial costs associated with keeping current on new methods of testing, and it can be difficult for a rural state to keep pace. Mann believes the laboratory has been “creative in how to figure out how do they stay on the cutting edge of testing technology.”
“Any time we’re conducting a communicable disease investigation, certain types of samples we send to them,” Mann explained.
The report also shows Idaho has experienced some degradation in physical infrastructure, such as bridges. The percentage of workers who have paid time off benefits in the event of a major epidemic has gone down in Idaho, according to the report.
Another point of concern for Mays was the decline in Idaho’s ability to delivery timely emergency medical services. The state’s health care delivery score has fallen by 8.9 percent since 2017 to 5.1. Mays said rural states are challenged by having their resources spread across broad areas with sparse populations.