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Public Health Preparedness & Response

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Goals and Objectives

In order to continue the strengthening of our local public health infrastructure, the following emergency preparedness goals and objectives have been developed. Guilford County Department of Public Health staff must be educated on these goals to ensure that the local public health system is able to meet them. These goals are designed to measure the urgent response capabilities of the GCDPH during an all hazards response. The preparedness goals are as follows:

Prevention

  • Increase the development and use of interventions known to prevent human illness from biological, chemical, radiological, and other naturally occurring health threats.
  • In partnership with local response partners, decrease the time needed to classify health events as terrorism or naturally occurring.

Surveillance

  • Decrease the time need to detect and report biological, chemical, radiological agents in tissue, food or environmental samples that cause threats to the public’s health.
  • Improve the timeliness and accuracy of information regarding threats to the public’s health as reported by clinicians and other health care providers through electronic early event detection.

Investigation

  • Decrease the time needed to identify causes, risk factors, and appropriate interventions for those affected by threats to the public’s health.

Control

  • Decrease the time needed to provide countermeasures and health guidance to those affected by threats to the public’s health.

Recovery

  • Decrease the time needed to restore health services and environmental safety to pre-event levels.
  • Increase the long-term follow-up provided to those affected by threats to the public’s health.

Improvement

  • Decrease the time needed to implement recommendations from after action reports following threats to the public’s health or exercises.

Roles and Responsibilities

The GCDPH will be responsible for fulfilling the three essential public health core functions. View these roles and responsibilities.

Training and Exercises

It is essential that the GCDPH include all hazards preparedness training as part of its preparation procedures. In addition, exercises are the most effective way to develop the skills that GCDPH staff will need during an actual emergency. Learn more about these procedures.

All Hazards Plan

Guilford County Department of Public Health All Hazards Plan includes the following General Operating Guidelines.

Triad Medical Reserve Corps Unit

Guilford County Department of Public Health and Guilford County Emergency Management established a Medical Reserve Corps Unit in March, 2007.

Preparedness Links