Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response

Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response

Agency overview
Formed	December 2006
Headquarters	Hubert H. Humphrey Building Washington, D.C.
Agency executive	Dawn O'Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
Parent agency	United States Department of Health and Human Services
Website	https://aspr.hhs.gov/

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is an operating agency of the U.S. Public Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services that focuses preventing, preparing for, and responding to the adverse health effects of public health emergencies and disasters. Its functions include preparedness planning and response; building federal emergency medical operational capabilities; countermeasures research, advance development, and procurement; and grants to strengthen the capabilities of hospitals and health care systems in public health emergencies and medical disasters. The office provides federal support, including medical professionals through ASPR’s National Disaster Medical System, to augment state and local capabilities during an emergency or disaster.

The agency has direct predecessors going at least back to 1955. In 2002, it was promoted to be a staff office headed by an Assistant Secretary, and in 2006 it was expanded and renamed the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In July 2022, it was announced that the agency was being elevated from a staff office to an operating division, and renamed the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.