RFP AWARD RE FOOD-RELATED EMERGENCY EXERCISE WITH US FDA.PDF

May 15 th, 2013
Jennifer Stewart
Epidemiologist
Maricopa County Department of Public Health
4041 N Central Suite 600
Phoenix, AZ 85012
jenniferstewart@mail.maricopa.gov
602-372-2621
Dear Jennifer,
We are pleased to inform you that your organization has been selected to receive funding from the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the amount of up to $4,000 in reimbursable funds, to facilitate a
Food-Related Emergency Exercise Bundle (FREE-B) tabletop exercise using the Stealthy Situation
scenario in Phoenix, AZ. The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) has been contracted to manage the
funding process. In preparation for your tabletop exercise, please feel free to use IFT as a resource for
the members of your planning team for logistics, support and any other details or questions you might
have. Please feel free to contact me (tbhatt@ift.org ) at any time.
Thank you for submitting your proposal and congratulations on receiving this funding. We look forward
to working with you.
Sincerely,
Tejas Bhatt MS CFS
Manager of Food Safety Programs
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
1025 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 503
Washington, DC 20036
tbhatt@iftarg
+1.202.330.4980 (Work)
+1.765.409.2068 (Cell)
http://www.ift.org

Response Form for RFP on FREE-B Workshops
Please complete all sections of this form. The information that you provide will be used to select
sites that will be funded. Incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. Please
email the completed form along with any attachments to tbhattifir by March 15 1h, 2013 by
4:00 pm Eastern. The POC identified in question number 1, below, will he notified by March
3P as to the status of your application.
1. Contact information
Name: Jennifer Stewart
Title: Epidemiologist
Affiliation: Maricopa County Department of Public Health
Mailing Address: 4041 N Central Suite 600 Phoenix, AZ 85012
Email Address: jenniferstewart@mail.maricopa.gov
Phone Number: 602-372-2621
Please indicate your FDA region: (Please click here if you do not know your FDA region.)
7 Northeast
Central
Southeast
Southwest
X Pacific
2. For what FREE-B scenario is your organization requesting funding?
How Sweet It Is(n't)
X Stealthy Situation
Wilted Woes
I Feed-related (NEW scenario)
Water-related (NEW scenario)
Recovery-related (NEW scenario)
3. Please describe key lessons learned from recent (past 3 years) food protection related
tabletop exercises and/or workshops (if any) in which your organization has participated. If
your organization has not conducted and/or participated in any, please indicate this. (250
words or less)
We participated in a statewide tabletop exercise three years ago which was very
productive. It was a great opportunity to meet with and work on issues with partner agencies.
For one exercise we worked on a waterborne outbreak scenario and included partners who
work in various water treatment plants throughout the area. Learning from their experiences
was valuable as we were able to tap into their network and learn how to more efficiently
respond to and reach partners in the event of a waterborne event. During another exercise on
foodborne illness we worked with partners with large grocery chains who provided insight
into their operations and how they respond to a food contamination event. They were able to
articulate information they would like to receive from public health in these events which
allowed us to tailor our messaging to those partners. The exercise provided a chance to meet
with partners from many agencies, such as industry, water treatment, hospital infection
preventionists and others to work on plans to improve outbreak surveillance and

investigation. It was also a chance to learn how other agencies work and the various ways
they can support our mission to investigate and control foodbome illnesses.
4. If selected, please describe how your organization will incorporate other agencies,
municipalities, industry, academic community and or/consumer organizations into this
process (250 words or less).
We will invite partners from the Arizona Department of Health Services, federal agencies (FDA,
USDA), Department of Agriculture, hospital infection preventionists, environmental health
professionals, and epidemiologists and sanitarians from other AZ counties. We have worked
with these partners in past exercises and have contacts for each.
5. Please provide a timeframe that the tabletop exercise might be held?
a. September-October 2013
6. Where will this tabletop exercise be held?
a. Phoenix, AZ
7. What is your anticipated number of attendees for this tabletop exercise?
a. 50-75
8. Please indicate below what the funds provided through this opportunity will be used for.
Please note that funds may not be used to support travel (beyond per diem / mileage) or food
and beverage. Favorable reviews will be provided for those entities that illustrate in-kind
support that other organizations may be providing. You may also submit a budget
spreadsheet to support your response to this question, but it is not required.
X Meeting space
X Handout preparation
7 Mileage for attendees
X Materials related to day of event
X Supplies for attendees
Per diem (according to Federal guidelines)
Other (please describe):
9. What other deliverables might your jurisdiction meet with this exercise? (Where possible,
please indicate the complete title of the deliverable, and, while not required, illustrate the
nature of the relationship of the FREE-B exercise to the grant program or strategy identified
below (or to the one you've provided):
X Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PREP) — Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) Capability 13 Public Health Surveillance and Epidemiological
Investigations
1 I 1-los.ital Pre aredness I I IPP - Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and
Response (ASPR)
I National Health Security S rat.
Healthy People 2020
Presidential Policy Directive-8
State / Regional Deliverable

Others (please describe)
Jo. If there is anything else that you'd like to describe or reference, that is not captured within
these questions, please do so. This section is limited to 500 words:
Conducting a foodbome tabletop exercise will allow us to maintain and establish
relationships with local state and federal outbreak response partners, train and
update one another regarding new investigation protocols and identify gaps in
working multi-agency foodborne (and other) outbreak investigations.. As the
third largest local public health jurisdiction in the US serving 3.8 million
residents, we average over 150 outbreaks per year and need to constantly update
our protocols and training with partner responders. We have a limited local
budget for public health (approximately $3.50 per capita) and the ability to
conduct a multi-agency foodborne tabletop would benefit our mission, that of our
partners and Maricopa County residents. It will also provide an opportunity to
establish partner roles and work more effectively with our federal partners.

C-86-14- ATTACHED TO AND A PART OF
Institute of Food Technologists
U. S. Food and Drug Administration
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties agree to enter into this Contract:
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF
MARICOPA COUNTY
By
Chairman, Board of Supervisors
Date
ATTEST:
Clerk of the Board
Date
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Attorney for Maricopa County
Date