The Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) is a program designed to
assist cities in increasing their capacity to deliver medicines and medical
supplies during a large-scale public health emergency.
The program is funded by the Centers of Disease Control and Preparedness.
As part of this program Los Angeles County receives a portion of the funds
allocated to assist in this planning.
CRI activities focus on the collaboration between
local, state and federal agencies in receiving and distributing medications
from the Strategic National Stockpile. The States and major cities have
been planning to receive, warehouse, and dispense medicines and medical
supplies. The next step is to create unified plans that encompass all
levels of government. At the local level, this means creating plans for
how municipalities and their partners will interface with State and Federal
agencies to assure the safe delivery and distribution of supplies during
disaster.
The Emergency Preparedness Program, with funds from the CRI initiative,
works with its communities to create plans for Points of Distribution (PODs).
These PODs may be used for the distribution of antibiotics, vaccines or other
emergency medications or medical supplies. The local plans are intended to be
flexible and easily adapted to whatever public health crisis may occur – whether
it is a large scale pandemic or a localized outbreak.
