UC Davis Health System is among five recipients of $5 million grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to improve the abilities of hospitals and communities to prepare and respond to disasters and emergencies. UC Davis physician Christian Sandrock, who specializes in disaster preparedness and responding to emerging infectious diseases, terrorism and other threats to public health, will oversee the project. He will lead development of uniform standards and protocols, electronic tracking of patients, expanded telemedicine applications, standardized informatics, multilingual needs, and computer models of the health system's disaster-management process to identify strengths and weaknesses.