Performance of Point of Dispensing Setup Drills for Distribution of Medical Countermeasures: United States and Territories, 2012-2016.

Objectives. To describe results of points of dispensing (POD) medical countermeasure drill performance among local jurisdictions. Methods. To compare POD setup times for each year, we calculated descriptive statistics of annual jurisdictional POD setup data submitted by over 400 local jurisdictions across 50 states and 8 US territories to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program monitoring database from July 2012 to June 2016. Results. In data collected from July 2012 to June 2015, fewer than 5% of PODs required more than 240minutes to set up, although the proportion increased from July 2015 to June 2016 to almost 12%. From July 2012 to June 2016, more than 60% of PODs were set up in less than 90 minutes, with 60 minutes as the median setup time during the period. Conclusions. Our results yield evidence of national progress for response to a mass medical emergency. Technical assistance may be required to aid certain jurisdictions for improvement. Public Health Implications. The results of this study may inform future target times for performance on POD setup activities and highlight jurisdictions in need of technical assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]