Linn County Public Health (LCPH), in partnership with Coll Consulting, has produced a COVID-19 After-Action Report to summarize local pandemic response and to document key takeaways.
The report covers a 16-month period between when the first COVID cases began to spread in the U.S. and when vaccines were becoming readily available throughout the country.
“While we recognize the pandemic is not over, it’s important to review actions that were taken at the beginning of the event, before they are forgotten or the people involved change,” said Dr. Pramod Dwivedi, director of Linn County Public Health, in a news release.
The After Action Report included a comprehensive review of documents, Action Plans, Status Updates, public information materials, websites, state resources and other content. Coll Consulting and LCPH staff held debriefing sessions with over a dozen incident responder groups and collected responses from electronic surveys they distributed to stakeholder groups, including: local jurisdiction leadership, Linn County Public Health staff, schools and colleges, community support services and mental health partners.
“Post-event reflection is key to strengthening future response. It is important to identify what worked well and to note areas of potential improvement so adjustments can be made for the next public health response,” said Julie Stephens, LCPH emergency preparedness and disaster recovery specialist.
Copies of the After Action Report are available upon request at health@linncountyiowa.gov or by calling (319) 892-6000.
