Effective emergency preparedness requires planning and collaboration. In El Dorado County, the Health Services Department is partnering with hospitals, health care providers, and other agencies, including the Environmental Management Department, to accomplish this goal.

The Health Services Department is working closely with the El Dorado County Office of Emergency Services, which has established a Countywide Disaster Plan. During an El Dorado County disaster, the County Office of Emergency Services would organize a response. They would set up an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate activities and centralize communication. They would call upon the Health Services Department if the event involved bioterrorism, a major disease outbreak, or other public health emergency.

What are the Health Services Department’s Primary Responsibilities?

The Health Services Department is mandated to take a lead role in:

• Responding to a bioterrorist attack or other biologic disaster, including a naturally occurring epidemic or pandemic.
• Organizing Points of Dispensing (POD) sites for providing preventive medications and vaccines to the community.
• Requesting, managing and distributing Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) materials.
• Conducting disease surveillance, detection and control and disease outbreak investigations.
• Performing rapid health needs assessments during disasters, and providing recommendations to decision makers.
• Providing consultation and education to health care providers, emergency responders and the public on issues related to communicable disease, bioterrorism, and other issues which may impact human health.

Other Responsibilities

• Participating with the Environmental Management Department on response to hazardous materials incidents and other environmental issues which impact human health.
• Maintaining the Health Services Department’s on-going programs to the best of our ability.

Epidemiology and Surveillance | Laboratory Capacity | Communications and Information Technology | Risk Communication and Health Information | Education and Training