About Us

Rapid community public health and needs assessment refers to a set of tools designed to provide, quickly and at low cost, accurate and reliable population-based public health information about communities impacted by public health emergencies. Rapid public health assessment is just one of many epidemiological tools (e.g., mortality and morbidity surveillance, outbreak investigations) potentially utilized in a public health emergency.

This method has been used by public health officials in Texas in responding to the floods (2006) in El Paso, Hurricane Rita (2005) in East Texas, and Tropical Storm Allison (2001) in Houston.

The Texas Department of State Health Services at Austin has established a Rapid Needs Assessment Team to assist and partner with local and regional health departments in responding to public health emergencies in their communities. For more information, contact (Community Preparedness Section) or