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Technical
State, local, and tribal public health departments play an extremely
important role in all-hazards emergency preparedness and response.
Public health professionals within these departments should have
immediate access to guidance and information that will assist them in
rapidly establishing priorities and undertaking necessary actions during
the response to an emergency or disaster. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health
(NCEH), Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services (EEHS),
Environmental Public Health Readiness Branch (EPHRB) has developed an
all-hazards public health emergency response guide to address this need.
The Public Health Emergency Response Guide for State, Local, and
Tribal Public Health Directors is an all-hazards reference tool for
health professionals who are responsible for initiating the public
health response during the first 24 hours (i.e., the acute phase) of an
emergency or disaster. It provides useful information on the activation
and integration of a jurisdiction’s public health system into the
existing overall emergency response structure during the acute phase of
an incident. It also contains guidance that may be unique to specific
types of incidents, such as floods, earthquakes, and acts of terrorism.
The guide is not a substitute for emergency preparedness activities
and is not intended to replace existing emergency operations plans,
procedures, or guidelines within a jurisdiction’s health department. It
is consistent with the doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology, and
organizational processes in the National Response Framework (NRF) and the
National Incident Management System (NIMS).
A pocket-sized field version of the guide will be available to state,
local, and tribal public health departments in January 2005. The guide
will also be presented and distributed each month at the Louisville
Metro Community-Based Emergency Response Program in Louisville, Kentucky
(health.loukymetro.org). For more information on the Public
Health Emergency Response Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Public
Health Directors, please refer to CDC’s Emergency Preparedness and
Response web site at
www.bt.cdc.gov or contact Martin A. Kalis at (770)
488-4568 or pherg@cdc.gov, or Gary Rhyne at (770) 488-7104 or
pherg@cdc.gov.
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