I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 903 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance the roles of dentists 
and allied dental personnel in the Nation’s disaster response framework, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 4, 2009 
Mr. STUPAK (for himself and Mrs. MILLER of Michigan) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance the 
roles of dentists and allied dental personnel in the Na-
tion’s disaster response framework, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Dental Emergency Responder Act of 2009’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
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TITLE I—PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESPONSE 
Sec. 101. National health security strategy. 
Sec. 102. All-hazards public health and medical response curricula and train-
ing. 
TITLE II—HOMELAND SECURITY 
Sec. 201. National response framework. 
Sec. 202. National preparedness system. 
Sec. 203. Chief medical officer. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The terrorist attacks of September 11, 
2001, and the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005 re-
vealed substantial shortcomings in the Nation’s abil-
ity to provide for the medical and other health-re-
lated needs of disaster victims when a community’s 
basic medical infrastructure is overwhelmed or sud-
denly compromised. 
(2) The dental workforce can do much to en-
hance the Nation’s medical surge capacity. Dentists 
take many of the same core health care courses as 
do physicians, and their training may even exceed 
the basic health care curricula of most paramedics 
and emergency medical technicians. Most dental fa-
cilities can also be used as decentralized treatment 
centers and drug storage and distribution sites when 
hospital facilities become overwhelmed. 
(3) Most Federal disaster response policies, 
plans, and programs do not reflect the full extent to 
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which dentists and auxiliary dental personnel can 
contribute to the Nation’s medical surge capacity. 
Dental schools, for example, have at times been de-
nied Federal public health and medical response 
training funds on the grounds that dentists are not 
identified by name in the Federal definitions of 
‘‘public health worker’’ and ‘‘emergency response 
provider’’. 
(4) Dentists and allied dental personnel are 
often willing to support the medical and public 
health response to disasters and, with little addi-
tional training, could easily be incorporated into an 
all-hazards emergency health care paradigm. 
TITLE I—PUBLIC HEALTH AND 
MEDICAL RESPONSE 
SEC. 101. NATIONAL HEALTH SECURITY STRATEGY. 
Section 2802(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300hh–1(b)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
by inserting ‘‘dental and’’ before ‘‘mental health fa-
cilities’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ‘‘and 
dental’’ after ‘‘medical’’. 
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SEC. 102. ALL-HAZARDS PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICAL RE-
SPONSE CURRICULA AND TRAINING. 
Section 319F(a)(5)(B) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 247d–6(a)(5)(B)) is amended by striking 
‘‘public health or medical’’ and inserting ‘‘public health, 
medical, or dental’’. 
TITLE II—HOMELAND SECURITY 
SEC. 201. NATIONAL RESPONSE FRAMEWORK. 
Paragraph (6) of section 2 of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 
dental’’ after ‘‘emergency medical’’. 
SEC. 202. NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS SYSTEM. 
Subparagraph (B) of section 653(b)(4) of the Post- 
Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 
U.S.C. 753(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘public health 
and medical’’ and inserting ‘‘public health, medical, and 
dental’’. 
SEC. 203. CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER. 
Paragraph (5) of section 516(c) of the Homeland Se-
curity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 321e(c)) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘medical community’’ and inserting ‘‘medical and den-
tal communities’’. 
Æ 
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