Senate Special Committee on Aging holds hearing on Emergency Preparedness and Older Americans

On Wednesday, June 24, the Senate Special Committee onAging held a hearing called  “EmergencyPreparedness, Aging and Special Needs: Prepared vs. Scared!”  At the hearing, Dr. Richard Besser, Director,Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response of theHHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testified on behalf ofthe Department.  During his testimony,Dr. Besser highlighted CDC’s work with the Administration on Aging and itsaging network to better address the needs of older adults during public healthemergencies.  Other witnesses includedDr. Douglas Beach, Secretary of the Department of Elder Affairs of Florida,Sandra Markwood, CEO of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging(n4a), LuMarie Polivka-West, Senior Vice President of Policy, Florida HealthCare Association and Timothy Manning, Deputy Administrator for NationalPreparedness, FEMA.  To read thetestimony and to view the webcast of the hearing, visit: http://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings.cfm