Civil disturbance and the health department.

EARLY in the course of World War II, many local health departments became involved in civil defense activities. Typically, they necessitated an inventory of all community health resources, the development of phased plans of procedure, the stockpiling of equipment, the preselection of routes of travel, with appropriate alternatives to meet whatever predictable exigencies might occur. The efforts of many health departments were meticulous and, for the first time, often provided a type of information and plan of procedure that did not exist before. The let-down that followed the termination of the war, combined with concerns over many new developments in public health, led to a neglect of these plans which soon became outdated and useless. However, events of the past few years have caused some local health departments to renew their interest in civil defense preparations and exercises. The massive dissatisfaction that has welled up in the ghettos of American cities, and which has been manifest by widespread civil rioting, has confronted health departments as well as other public agencies, with the necessity to engage in activities unanticipated only several years ago.