Public Health Emergency Preparedness

The Bureau of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) is responsible for developing plans and conducting drills to ensure that Suffolk County is prepared to respond to a variety of public health emergencies. Examples of such emergencies include epidemics/ pandemics and release of radiological, biological or chemical agents, whether accidental or intentional (i.e., bioterrorism). The response to some public health threats may necessitate the distribution of medication or vaccine to at-risk persons; PHEP helps ensure that in such scenarios Suffolk County is prepared to quickly open Point of Distribution (POD) clinic sites to enable rapid distribution of the medication or vaccine to large numbers of people.

PHEP is supported by grant funding to build and maintain capacity in five (5) critical areas, consistent with national priorities:

1. Planning and Assessment. The PHEP Team is an active participant in regional and statewide risk assessment reviews. As Grant Deliverables, PHEP has developed and maintains a ‘Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (PHEPRP)’ that includes seventy-two (72) annexes that address the particulars of a wide variety of health services responsibilities. Primary among these are the Radiological Emergency Response Plan, Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) Plan, now called the Public Health Asset Distribution (PHAD) Plan, and ‘Medical Countermeasures (MCM) / Points of Dispensing Plan. These documents are periodically reviewed and edited.
2. Surveillance and Response. The Suffolk County Department of Health Services maintains an active surveillance program for communicable diseases via the Bureau of Epidemiology and Disease Control, which currently tracks over 70 communicable diseases. Active and passive surveillance activities allow for early identification of communicable diseases, early detection of clusters, unexpected illnesses or unusual presentation of diseases that may indicate a biological terrorist event. Additionally, Suffolk County EMS utilizes bio-surveillance software which sends out an alert if there are an unusual number of calls for ambulances within a given geographic area, possibly indicating an unusual pattern of illness.
   During an incident that results in the spread of viruses, bacteriological or radiological agents, the medical community and the public will look to the public health infrastructure to assist with a coordinated response that includes on-site medical consultation, triage, treatment, and monitoring of exposed individuals. PHEP maintains the medical supplies and equipment needed to respond to such an event. PHEP also maintains redundant mechanisms to communicate with health care partners and the public during a crisis, including land/cell/satellite telephones, fax, blast fax, email, and 800 MHz radio communications.
3. Integrated Health Alerting and Notification System (IHANS) utilization. IHANS is a New York State Department of Health notification system used to notify outline an emergency drill scenario or to communicate with public health and healthcare agencies during an emergency. PHEP regularly conducts drills using the IHANS system to ensure emergency notifications are reaching all intended recipients.
4. Risk Communication. In the event of a public health emergency, risk communication messages will be developed by the Health Department and disseminated to the public through various media channels and community organizations. These messages will include the potential risks from exposure, signs and symptoms of which people should be aware, and steps the public can take to reduce their risks from the health emergency.
5. Education and Training. Training and educating the medical community and the public is an important defense against any medical emergency. PHEP’s responsibilities include the development of educational programs aimed at large-scale clinic training and general preparedness awareness. PHEP provides hands-on training to County staff through yearly full-scale emergency preparedness exercises or drills. These drills serve as valuable training opportunities for staff, protect against loss of institutional knowledge, and provide an opportunity to evaluate the County’s ability to respond to a Public Health Emergency. PHEP also participates in Emergency Preparedness workshops for community members.