Public Health Practices

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health created a visual tool for two-way conversations between emergency shelter staff and people with communication needs. The booklet allows shelter staff to ensure residents know how the shelter operates and residents to use images to express their needs and concerns.

In order to facilitate timely communications and ensure safety of responders, the Florida Department of Health developed a virtual Joint Information Center (JIC). Key to its success in saving agency resources were its use of existing capacity on their emergency notification system, open source software redundancy, easy global accessibility, provision of necessary communications resources in one place, and responsiveness to staff needs.

The Michigan Department of Community Health and its partners developed a skills-based disaster preparedness curriculum for children in grades 1-12. Lesson plans focus on skills children can integrate easily into their lifestyles and transmit to their families.

In response to Cities Readiness Initiative requirements, the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE), in conjunction with Kansas City metro partners, developed an online screening and voucher system for Points of Dispensing (PODs). The system enables one client to move through a POD in 35 seconds, reduces responder time and effort, and engages the public more fully in emergency preparedness.

Contamination of public water supplies threatens a hospital’s ability to provide patient care, disinfect instruments, and maintain facility infrastructure. The Wisconsin Hospital Emergency Preparedness Program provided a multi-phase funding opportunity to allow hospitals to develop on-site wells for use during water emergencies.

Four Armenian schools in the Los Angeles area created earthquake response training and held exercises with students in grades 1-8. Training covered Incident Command System roles, search and rescue, and general school preparedness issues.

Houston, Texas, is susceptible to seasonal hurricanes and other disasters due to its proximity to the Gulf Coast. To address this vulnerability, city and school planners implemented a disaster preparedness curriculum in Houston schools. The curriculum used targeted information and homework assignments to train elementary school children to act as preparedness ambassadors to their families. Teachers implemented the program in 57 classrooms, and its messages reached just under 5,000 people.

During H1N1, the Michigan Department of Community Health partnered with regional Civil Air Patrol squadrons to deliver antivirals to the Upper Peninsula to ensure deliveries were made throughout the state in the most expeditious manner. Previous exercises and training helped personnel ensure that the missions were successful.