EMERGENCY RESPONDER HEALTH MONITORING AND SURVEILLANCE (ERHMS)
National Response Team Technical Assistance Document
All chapters, tools and appendices described below are found in the National Response Team ERHMS Technical Assistance Document
Overview
When disaster strikes, the nation depends on emergency response workers who are prepared and trained to respond effectively. To ensure that workers can meet the challenges of disasters, they must be protected from the safety and health risks inherent in the work. This document provides a recommended health monitoring and surveillance framework, referred to as the Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS) system, which includes specific recommendations and tools for all phases of a response, including the pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment phase (see Figure 1 ). The intent of health monitoring and surveillance is to identify exposures and/or signs and symptoms early in the course of an emergency response in order to prevent or mitigate adverse physical and psychological outcomes and ensure workers maintain their ability to respond effectively and are not harmed in the course of response work.
ERHMS Phases
Pre Deployment Phase
Rostering and Credentialing of Emergency Response and Recovery Workers
Post Deployment Phase
The out-processing assessment is the minimum post-deployment evaluation
Deployment Phase
The processes of personnel identification, accountability, and tracking
Tools & Resources
Links and references to information about ERHMS
Figure 1
Next Page: Pre-deployment
Pages in this Report
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- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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