CHEMPACK is a chemical countermeasures asset program that is federally-owned and state-managed and supports identified national security priority goals. CHEMPACK contains federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regulated medications and supplies provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of the Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS). The CHEMPACK program in Nevada is administered by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) Public Health Preparedness (PHP) Program. The CHEMPACK Program is envisioned as a comprehensive capability for the effective use of medical countermeasures in the event of an attack on civilians with nerve agents.
CHEMPACK Mission
- Provide, monitor and maintain a nationwide program for the forward placement of nerve agent antidotes.
- To provide state and local governments a sustainable resource; and improve their capability to respond quickly to a nerve agent incident.
Why CHEMPACK?
- Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) has a 12-hour response time, too long in the event of a chemical attack
- State and local governments have limited or no chemical/nerve agent antidote stocks
- Hospitals carry very limited supplies of treatments for nerve agent exposures
- Nerve agent antidotes are costly and have variable shelf lives (not an easily sustainable resource)
Background
The CHEMPACK Program pilot was established in September 2002.
- Three Project Areas participated (South Dakota, Washington State and New York City)
- Tested the concept of forward placement of SNS-owned chemical / nerve agent antidotes
- Determined feasibility of the tested strategy
- Lessons learned used to refine processes for the nationwide program