The Art Behind Disaster Response

Blackwell: “There is no ‘I’ in team”

Pam Blackwell, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Cobb & Douglas Public Health

Pam Blackwell is no stranger to Public Health as the Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) at Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH). A veteran in the world of emergency preparedness, one would think that she would flaunt her many experiences and expertise, but that is not the case.

“There is no ‘I’ in team,” she says. “We are all part of a team that is here to serve the public. I’m just a team player.”

A registered nurse, Blackwell has 30 years of experience directing emergency departments and trauma centers in Miami and Atlanta. In that time, she also helped develop the first trauma center planning grant and served as Director of Trauma in the State Office of Emergency Medical Systems (EMS). Blackwell also served as Medical Supervisor in the Olympic Stadium for the 1996 Atlanta Committee for Olympic Games. She later began her career at Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH). The shift in our nation’s terror attacks also shifted Blackwell’s career.

“In 1998, I came to Cobb & Douglas Public Health as Director of Clinical Services,” she explained. “After the terrorist and anthrax attacks in 2001, the district health director believed that public health would play a major role in the response community. This was something that had never happened before. She created my current position before there was any federal funding for it.”

The role of public health shifted and EP&R transitioned to a position as a true response agency with heightened terror alerts and chemical and biologic threats.

“Prior to the attacks, public health was a victim of our own successes. It was like an insurance policy, invisible until you needed it. As long as we were eradicating polio and smallpox, and decreasing cases of infectious diseases; public health was ‘silent’ because we were doing ‘public health’. It wasn’t until an actual event occurred that people realized just how necessary this field is,” says Blackwell.

According to Blackwell, one of the most proactive and positive events in the history of public health in Georgia was the decision to recreate the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and promote the role of the commissioner to a cabinet-level position.

“Public Health, Emergency Preparedness, and Response as we knew it, changed forever and I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take part in this vital pillar in the health and well being of our state,” Blackwell added.

Out of her many encounters however, she very passionately describes the most defining moment in her career as her work with survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“We responded to Dobbins Air Force Base to assist with over 1,900 patients, evacuees and even pets,” she describes. “Over 40 local, state, and federal agencies united for this extraordinary cause. It was surreal how devoted everyone was to saving the lives of people that we cared so much about, but had never met.”

Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) has a long-standing reputation for its many successful partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies. The most recent partnership with Cobb County Government resulted in the Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Award for the CDPH contribution to the Cobb Safety Village. In PHWEEK, we told you about CDPH’s recognition. Click here to learn about the Cobb Safety Village http://www.health.state.ga.us/phweek/100311/SafetyVillage.asp.

“We have taken ownership of making sure that everyone, even our children, know how to prepare, respond, and protect themselves in any situation,” Blackwell says.

“In public health, it’s more than a job; it’s a passion,” said Blackwell. “You have to have a passion for the people in order to do what we do. Working together for this common goal was the only way that we would be successful. No one can do this job in isolation.”

-Story by Melva B. Robertson, M.A.P.W., Risk Communicator, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Cobb & Douglas Public Health

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