Strategic National Stockpile
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The Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is the United States' national repository of antibiotics, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, vaccines, life-support medications, IV administration supplies, airway maintenance supplies and medical/surgical items. The SNS is designed to supplement and re-supply state and local public health agencies in the event of a national emergency, especially bioterrorism, anywhere and at anytime within the United States or its territories.
In 1999, the United States Congress charged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the establishment of the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS). The Homeland Security Act of 2002 tasked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with defining the goals and performance requirements of the SNS, as well as managing the actual deployment of assets. Effective on 1 March 2003, the NPS became the Strategic National Stockpile managed jointly by DHS and HHS. Finally, with the Project BioShield Act of 2004, the SNS Program was returned to HHS for oversight and guidance.
The SNS Program is currently part of CDC's Coordinating Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response.
The SNS is organized for flexible response. The first line of support lies with 12-hour Push Packages. These are caches of pharmaceuticals, antidotes, and medical supplies designed to provide rapid delivery of a broad spectrum of assets for an ill defined threat in the early hours of an event. These Push Packages are positioned in strategically located, secure warehouses ready for immediate deployment to a designated site within 12 hours of the federal decision to deploy SNS assets.
If the incident requires additional supplies, follow-on vendor managed inventory (VMI) will be shipped to arrive within 24 to 36 hours. If cause is well defined, VMI can be tailored to provide pharmaceuticals, supplies and/or products specific to the suspected or confirmed agent(s) or disaster. In this case, the VMI could act as the first option for immediate response from the SNS.
The SNS successfully deployed a 12-hour Push Package to New York City in response to 9/11 and VMI to numerous locations in response to the anthrax attacks of 2001.
External link
Official Site (http://www.bt.cdc.gov/stockpile/index.asp)