Editorial Staff

Preparing For Disaster: Health Readiness Expert’s Performance Review

/in , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Emergency Preparedness expert Dr. Paul Biddinger about how experts plan for disasters, and what went right and wrong in this pandemic.

Guest:

Dr. Paul Biddinger holds the MGH Endowed Chair in Emergency Preparedness and is the Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine, and Vice Chairman for Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mass General. He is also the Director for Emergency Preparedness at Mass General Brigham. Dr. Biddinger additionally serves as the Director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice (EPREP) Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and at the Chan School. Dr. Biddinger serves as a special advisor to the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Committee on Preparedness and serves as a medical officer for the MA-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dr. Biddinger is an active researcher in the field of emergency preparedness and has lectured nationally and internationally on topics of preparedness and disaster medicine. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on multiple topics related to emergency medical services and disaster medicine. He has also responded to numerous prior incidents, including Hurricane Katrina, the Boston Marathon bombings, Superstorm Sandy, the 2015 Nepal earthquakes and others. He completed his undergraduate study in international relations at Princeton University, attended medical school at Vanderbilt University, and completed residency training in emergency medicine at Harvard.

Get new episodes of Hubwonk in your inbox!

Recent Episodes of Hubwonk

California Tax Experiment: Policy Makers Receive Valuable Economics Lesson

0 Comments
/
Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Stanford University Economics Professor Joshua Rauh about his research on the reaction of Californians to a tax increase, from his report, “The Behavioral Response to State Income Taxation of High Earners, Evidence from California.” Prof. Rauh shares how his research offers tax policy makers insight into the likely effects of similar increases in their own states, including here in Massachusetts.

Social Unrest Network: The Disruptive Power of Information For Leadership

0 Comments
/
Joe Selvaggi talks with Martin Gurri, former CIA analyst and author of Revolt of the Public and the Crisis of Authority in the New Millennium, about the wave of populism sparked by the disruptive force of the internet from Occupy to riots on Capitol Hill. Mr. Gurri shares his views on the connection between massive, broad information consumption and the new view toward elites.

Unemployment Insurance Rescue: Employer Advocate Seeks Relief to Catalyze Pandemic Recovery

0 Comments
/
Joe Selvaggi talks with John Regan, President and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, about the impact of higher UI rates on employers and what legislators can do to help mitigate the pain.

Police Reform Law: Finding Balance While Seeking Justice

0 Comments
/
Join Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi and former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis who shares his views on the features and controversies of the police reform bill on Beacon Hill.

COVID-19 Vaccine: The End of the Epidemic is Within Reach

0 Comments
/
Join Host Joe Selvaggi and Virologist and Investor Dr. Peter Kolchinsky as they discuss the rapid development, efficacy, and rollout of the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines.

Thank Think Tanks: Finding Trustworthy Information in a Partisan Era

0 Comments
/
Join Host Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer Institute’s executive director Jim Stergios as they discuss think tanks, their role in policy formation, and how they preserve trust and their integrity through independent, mission-guided research.

MBTA Cuts Ahead: COVID Causes Commuters To Consider Comprehensive Changes

0 Comments
/
Host Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow Charlie Chieppo discuss the reasons for the recently proposed cuts to MBTA service, and offer suggestions as to how the agency’s leadership could use this crisis to improve the service’s long-term health.

Capturing Voter Intent: What Polling Error Teaches Us About Electoral Trends

0 Comments
/
Join Host Joe Selvaggi and Harvard Professor Chase Harrison as they discuss polling methodology and what errors in 2020 reveal about voting during COVID-19 and changing attitudes toward pollsters.

Polling Problems: A Professional Pollster Ponders Errors Plaguing 2020 Election Predictions

0 Comments
/
Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi and Emerson Polling’s Spencer Kimball discuss the polling industry’s failure to reliably anticipate election results in 2020.  Where were the largest errors, what may have been the reasons, and what should consumers of polling data consider when interpreting data?

Voting for Health: Party Opinions, Election Results & the Healthcare Policy Implications of Election 2020

0 Comments
/
Join Host Joe Selvaggi as he discusses with Harvard Professor Bob Blendon his New England Journal of Medicine Special Report, "Implications of the 2020 Election for U.S. Health Policy," which covers broad differences in both party’s view of the role of government in health care and what the election results will mean for Americans.

Staving Off Disaster: Lessons from Covid Applied to the Epic Battle Against Drug Resistant Microbes

0 Comments
/
Join Hubwonk host Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer Institute’s Bill Smith as they discuss with inspirational public health advocate Gunnar Esiason the findings of his latest white paper, "Antimicrobial Resistance: Learning From the current health crisis to inform another."  The episode looks at the challenges to global health presented by evolving drug resistant diseases and how the lessons learned from COVID-19 could potentially save millions of lives.

Clearing Boston’s Throat: What the I-90 Allston Project Portends for Metro West Commuters

0 Comments
/
Join hosts Joe Selvaggi and Pioneer Institute’s Mary Connaughton, and guest, former Mass. Secretary of Transportation Jim Aloisi, as they discuss the I90 Allston Multimodal Project, its long-term benefits, and their concerns for the metro west commuters and communities during the project’s decade-long construction.

Ballot Question 1: Risks & Regulations Regarding Right to Repair

0 Comments
/
Join host Joe Selvaggi and security technologist Prof. Bruce Schneier as they discuss risks associated with car telematics as well as how best to ensure public safety in the future of the internet of everything.

Small Business Life Support: Policy Relief for Firms Sickened by COVID?

0 Comments
/
Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Andrew Mikula and Retailers Association of Massachusetts' Jon Hurst about the state of small business in Massachusetts six months into the pandemic.

Supreme Court Vacancy: The History, the Stakes & the Options for Replacing a Justice

0 Comments
/
Hubwonk Host Joe Selvaggi talks with Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro about his new book, Supreme Disorder: Judicial Nominations and the Politics of America's Highest Court.  The episode equips listeners with historical context to better understand the makeup of the Court, the nomination process, and the impact of a new justice on the Court.

Ranked Choice: Ballot Question 2 Redefines What a Vote and Majority Mean

0 Comments
/
Join host Joe Selvaggi as he discusses Ranked Choice Voting with former Federal Election Commissioner Lee Goodman. As a recognized national expert in election administration, Commissioner Goodman offers a deep dive on the contours of ranked choice voting, including the benefits and challenges moving to the new system would offer Massachusetts voters.