Public Health Emergency Response
WHAT WE’RE ABOUT
The Public Health Emergency Response Department coordinates planning and program development through local, state and federal agencies to protect the public health of the citizens and visitors in our area. A public health threat might be caused by a natural biological process such as influenza or a deliberate act of bioterrorists such as Anthrax. The health and safety of the district’s residents is our primary concern when we are planning for a public health emergency.
Since a potential public health threat involves the entire community the public health emergency response department works closely with other community agencies such as; Hospitals, Law enforcement, Emergency management, Red Cross, United Way, Private businesses, Schools and the Faith Community. In the event of a public health emergency most of these agencies will need to be involved to protect and restore the health of the community.
Our role in responding to a public health emergency event involves coordination and communication with all of the involved partners. This coordinated effort maximizes community resources and allows for the greatest possible recovery effort in the shortest amount of time. One of the benefits of a coordinated response is rapid communication between partners of essential information. In order to assure that responses are coordinated various local and state agencies use exercises to test the system.
Other roles assigned to public health include disease detection, surveillance, and investigation . Once a threat has been identified our local public health department would put into practice measures directed at the specific event. Some measures that might be used would be vaccination and or prophylactic medicine distribution. The department has plans for mass dispensing clinics if these would be needed to vaccine or provider medications to a large number of individuals quickly.
When a true public health threat occurs the department will depend upon the activation of pre-registered volunteers to assist us in the role of protecting the public. Pre-registration of volunteers eliminates the need for time consuming registration and training during an emergency event. The department is always taking information on potential new volunteers to assist in protecting our community. These everyday heros are needed in all areas to include those with current or past medical training, mental health counseling skills, CDL licenses, law enforcement , childcare skills, interpreters and those who have experience in working with special populations such as seniors or individuals with disabilities. No special skills are required to volunteer. To learn more visit
Volunteer Disaster Resource Center
.
In a severe public health threat the department would use directed public health measures such as quarantine, isolation and social distancing to control an event. The ongoing goal of the office is to continuously upgrade our preparedness plans to make them more comprehensive and community centered.
SERVICES OFFERED
The purpose of the Public Health Emergency Response section of the East Central District Health Department is to prepare for a successful community response to any type public health threats in our community. In addition the department will provide education and training for the community and public health volunteers on a wide variety of topics.
BROCHURES AND INFORMATION
One of the best ways for a community to prepare for an emergency is for each of it’s citizens to be prepared. By taking responsibility for your family you assure your families safety in the event that your community had a public health emergency and food and non-perishable supplies are in short supply. The brochures below will help you prepare for any type of emergency.
LINKS
|
