Strategic National Stockpile (SNS)
Who authorized the SNS program?
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What is the SNS?
The SNS is the nation’s largest repository of emergency medicines and supplies to help the country prepare for, respond to, and recover from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive threats as well as pandemics and emerging infectious diseases.
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What is in the SNS?
Medical countermeasures are primarily held in SNS for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive threats, and many are not available from any other source. Stockpiled inventory includes:
- Antibiotics
- Antitoxins
- Antidotes
- Antiviral drugs
- Vaccine
- Ventilators and ancillary supplies
- Burn/blast supplies
- Other medical supplies
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Who manages the SNS program?
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Effective October 1, 2018, the SNS is managed by the HHS
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
(ASPR).
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Federal agencies, primarily ASPR, are responsible for
maintenance and delivery of SNS assets, but all states
and territories have established plans to receive SNS
product and distribute it as quickly as possible to
local jurisdictions, which then dispense to the local
community.
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When would the stockpile be used?
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In the face of a public health threat that overwhelms locally available resources, a state, tribal entity, large metropolitan area, or territory can request federal assistance for emergency countermeasures from the SNS.
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HHS may also direct the SNS to proactively deploy lifesaving medicines and supplies to jurisdictions during a widespread national emergency or due to a threat of national concern.
- Examples might be emergencies resulting from a pandemic flu, a smallpox event, and terrorist events of chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, or explosive incidents.
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Pre-event requests for SNS resources might include:
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Actionable intelligence indicating an impending chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, or large explosive attack or overwhelming public health emergency
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Analysis of data derived from syndromic or epidemiologic surveillance
- A sentinel event, such as a single case of smallpox
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Who can request assets of the SNS?
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States, directly funded cities, tribal entities, and territories may request federal assistance for emergency medical countermeasures from the SNS.
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Requests can come from a governor or a governor’s designee or senior health officials in a state, tribal entity, directly funded city or territory.
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The four large metropolitan areas which are funded through the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement include Chicago, Los Angeles County, New York City and Washington, D.C. These four jurisdictions can directly request SNS assistance.
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Tribal nations and urban Indian organizations have defined pathways to access stockpiled medical countermeasures from the SNS.
- For more on requesting stockpile assets, please visit https://aspr.hhs.gov/SNS/Pages/Requesting-SNS-Assets.aspx.
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Whose decision is it to release assets from the SNS?
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HHS, in collaboration with other federal agencies, will
review and evaluate the request for SNS assets, consider
the situation, and determine a prompt course of action
to release those assets that are most appropriate.
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Where are the SNS assets stored?
- This is not public information.
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In order to rapidly respond to state or local needs, SNS
assets are stored in strategically located, secure, and
environmentally controlled warehouses across the United
States ready for deployment. The placement of SNS
warehouses allows for optimum distribution of critical
medicines and medical supplies to be rapidly moved to an
area of need and integrated into a local public health
response.
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The SNS maintains ownership of the inventory and is
responsible for storing, monitoring, and maintaining the
inventory.
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How fast can the SNS assets be deployed?
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Depending on the threat, the SNS can deliver medical countermeasures anywhere in the United States in 12 hours or less of a federal decision to deploy. The speed at which medical countermeasures are delivered is determined by clinical timelines for prophylaxis and treatment of specific disease threats.
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Medical countermeasures in the stockpile are configured in containers or on pallets that can be easily loaded onto either trucks or commercial cargo aircraft for the most rapid transportation.
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Are there specific agents available in the SNS for
chemical emergencies?
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Yes, the SNS remains ready to respond to chemical or
nerve agent incidents through its nationwide CHEMPACK
program, which provides, monitors, and maintains
pre-positioned
CHEMPACK
containers of chemical nerve agent antidotes and
anticonvulsants in secure locations around the country.
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Because nerve agent antidotes must be administered very
soon after an exposure, the SNS maintains 1,960 CHEMPACK
containers strategically placed in more than 1,340
locations in the United States. More than 90 percent of
the U.S. population is within 1 hour of a CHEMPACK
location.
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Most CHEMPACK containers are located in hospitals or
fire stations selected by local authorities to support a
rapid hazmat response and can be accessed quickly if
hospitals or first responders need them.
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