LAW 7258 - Legal Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies.

2 to 3 Credit Hours

Description
This is an elective course. This course focuses on laws and policies related to preparedness for and response to public health emergencies. Students will be introduced to the different types of public health emergencies, including contagious disease outbreak, natural disasters, and bioterrorism; explore the authority and limitations of federal/state/local government to respond, as well as decision-making structure and processes; and examine the legal and ethical issues that arise during emergencies such as allocation of scarce resources; credentialing of health care workers and other volunteers across state lines; liability of emergency response; and consideration of special populations such as Native Americans, children, elderly, and persons with special needs. Students will participate in several case studies or hypothetical table-top exercises, commonly used in emergency response to test policies and plans.