The Preparedness program within the health department is responsible for working with local, state, and national first responders to either prevent or limit in scope of natural and man-made disasters. The staff works with emergency management, law enforcement, the medical community, hospitals, and state and federal health agencies to plan for man-made and natural disasters, and to execute these plans, either in training exercises or in real-life events (e.g., the recent H1N1 world-wide flu outbreak). Staff works with the latest technology (e.g., the EPI-EX Program of the Centers for Disease Control) to bring almost instantaneous information to the medical community and the public on the status of the current national, state, or local emergency situation.
