BACKGROUND

Airport communicable disease response plans (CDRPs) are multi-agency coordination plans maintained by airports that outline the main roles and responsibilities of key agencies during various illness responses.  CDRPs allow for several types of responses and contingencies ranging from response to a single individual illness or death to a mass illness response.  They include potential locations for entry and exit screening, as well as responsibilities of partners during a pandemic.  CDRPs are also used by airport partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its quarantine stations, to coordinate activities during public health responses.  Although not required by federal aviation regulation, many airports have found CDRPs valuable and would benefit from a template and guide for their development.  

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop templates and a guide to help airports prepare CDRPs that are practical, scalable, implementable, and easily updated. The templates should be designed to help airports create CDRPs for the following situations, at a minimum:

• Within an airport response plan at a port with a co-located CDC quarantine station;
• As a stand-alone document at a port with a co-located CDC quarantine station;
• As a document at a sub-port of a CDC quarantine station; and
• For other commercial service and general aviation airports.

The templates should allow airports to respond to a range of situations (e.g., an isolated incident, pandemics) and consider various populations within an airport (e.g., employees, tenants, passengers).

The guide should help airports:

• Select and populate the appropriate template based on their unique situation, goals, and priorities;
• Identify and coordinate with relevant stakeholders when developing the plan; and
• Provide suggestions for testing, benchmarking, and updating the plan.

STATUS: Research is complete, and results should be published in the spring of 2024.