The Institute of Medicine proposes to continue to convene a standing committee for Department of Homeland Security's Office of Health Affairs. The standing committee will discuss issues related to short- and long-term strategic planning and will include experts in emergency management, emergency medical services, emergency preparedness and response, intelligence and law enforcement, public health and medicine, biosurveillance, individual and community resiliency, bioengineering, and socio-cultural sciences.

The standing committee will maintain surveillance of the field, discuss planning and program development efforts, and serve as a focal point within the Institute of Medicine and the National Academies for discussions and potential ad hoc studies related to:

• community resilience against health threats including issues relevant to preparedness, community engagement, and communications;

• integrated biosurveillance and BioWatch efforts, including public health capabilities to interpret and respond to BioWatch actionable responses;

• health security interface with intelligence, infrastructure and security, and health resiliency;

• emergency response and recovery activities and support of operational medicine;

• capacity and gaps in the capability of the federal, state, and local authorities to respond to catastrophic health events, including events related to food, agriculture, human health, and animal health issues; and,

• workforce resilience against health threats, including strategic planning and issues relevant to DHSTogether and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Cross-border initiatives

In this process, the standing committee will provide a venue for communication among government, the academic community, and the private sector, as well as other relevant stakeholders involved in emergency preparedness and emergency response services. Further, as needed, the standing committee will be involved in the planning, development, and oversight of related ad hoc activities undertaken by separately appointed committees operating under its auspices.