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Idaho Public Health Selects Previstar

Leader in health preparedness takes NIMS compliance and interoperability one step further with next generation software solution

(Alexandria, VA) – October 30, 2007 – Four of Idaho’s seven Public Health districts have chosen Previstar’s Continual Preparedness System (CPS) to enhance their preparedness capabilities and align with the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

Carol Moehrle, Director of Idaho’s North Central District Health Department and chair of the County Forum for the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), studied the range of software offerings available before determining that Previstar was the partner of choice.

“In our five-county public health district, we are seen as critical partners in preparedness—and yet we had no coordination to our documents or plans,” Moehrle said.  “We believed the best decision was to make an investment in software that helped us manage this division and correlate with the rest of public health.

“As public health struggles to ‘fit’ into the response world, I understood that the right software was critical to our effectiveness—and Previstar has that software.”

Previstar CPS provides web-based planning, documentation, exercising and sharing. The ease of use, coordination of all documentation and establishment of a meaningful link between Public Health and NIMS was especially important to Moehrle. 

“But ultimately,” she said, “it’s all about people and relationships.  The Previstar team was able to connect the world of IT to public health preparedness.  They understood our issues, and had the best set of tools to address them.”

In the future, Moehrle’s goal is to incorporate Previstar into as many daily public health functions as possible.  “The local districts now using Previstar or scheduled for installation cover  26 out of Idaho’s 44 counties.  I believe that once the others see the functionality of the software, they’ll want the same capabilities.  My goal is to have Idaho be the first to provide this level of comprehensive public health preparedness support on a state-wide basis.” 

About Idaho Public Health
Idaho was the country’s first Project Public Health Ready (PPHR) state.  PPHR is a national recognition awarded jointly by the NACCHO and the CDC to Local Health Departments that meet requirements in emergency preparedness, workforce competency development, and demonstration of all-hazards readiness through exercises.  

About Previstar
Previstar’s Continual Preparedness System is NIMS driven, web-based, easy-to-use, automated incident management system, providing integrated communications and collaboration, real-time situational awareness, comprehensive resource management, predictive modeling, and command and control functions.

First responders, emergency managers, and health organizations have used Previstar to protect schools, prepare for bioterrorism attacks, safeguard the Salt Lake City Olympics, and recover from the multiple 2004 Florida hurricanes and hurricane Katrina.

Previstar is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia and conducts research and development activities at its facility in Knoxville, Tennessee.

For more information about Previstar, please visit our website at www.previstar.com or contact: Joe Gordon, AVP Sales & Marketing Support, joe.gordon@previstar.com , 813-244-7774; or Doug Morgan, VP Marketing, doug.morgan@previstar.com , 202-251-8402.