Emergency Preparedness

The public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) program is funded through a grant provided by the Ohio Department of Health.  The PHEP grant allows the Harrison County Health Department the opportunity to work with local partners and agencies to plan for and mitigate against local public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks and environmental public health hazards. 

Harrison County Health Department Role

The Harrison County Health Department role is to effectively prepare for, respond to, and recover from a public health emergency caused by a natural or man-made disaster.  Harrison County Public Health works with representatives from local law enforcement, the Emergency Management Agency, Emergency Medical System, Fire Departments, Red Cross, county agencies, school districts, and elected officials to develop plans that minimize the effects of an adverse event.

Develop and integrate all-hazards public health response plans:

• Integrated Shelter Support
• Isolation and Quarantine
• Mass Fatality
• Mass Vaccination and Mass Prophylaxis
• Medical Surge
• Strategic National Stockpile Plan
• Educate the public and train the county response partners
• Conduct drills and exercises to test plans
• Recruit, train and deploy a Public Health Emergency Response Team
• Collaborate with our community partners

Even a small amount of preparation before an emergency can make a huge difference which can save lives. That is why the Harrison County Health Department creates plans, practices them, and conducts training to better protect the residents of Harrison County.

Medical Surge: Medical Surge is the capability to rapidly expand the capacity of the existing healthcare system (long-term care facilities, community health agencies, acute care facilities, alternate care facilities and public health departments) in order to provide assessment and subsequent medical care.

Education and Trainings: Public Health personnel, in addition to medical and emergency personnel, are intensively trained to be alert, prepared, ready, and able to respond to these potential threats. Public Health Emergency Preparedness is in place and is constantly being strengthened to assure our ability to deal with emerging infectious diseases, as well as chemical attacks. The Public Health System (Federal, state and local) works jointly with numerous other organizations to prepare for such threats.

Harrison County Health Department participates in local, regional, state, and federal training.

Harrison County Public Health maintains on-call personnel 24/7 to respond to public health emergency situations.  So, what exactly is a public health emergency?

A public health emergency is any event or situation demanding immediate action on the part of the public health system in order to prevent disease and injury as well as maintain public health within the community of service. Emergencies can be natural or man-made, occurring with little to no warning.