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Preparedness

Public Health Preparedness & Response

Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHP&R) is the branch of the North Carolina Division of Public Health that monitors and strengthens the abilities of our public health and healthcare systems to protect the public health in disaster situations such as disease epidemics, chemical and radiological releases, severe weather, and natural disasters. Our mission is to promote and protect the public’s health before, during, and after all-hazards events through an integrated public health preparedness system that is robust, resilient, and scalable. Since the start of the PHP&R program in 2002, North Carolina has established a multi-faceted public health preparedness and response infrastructure that involves multiple agencies and includes:

• Regional PHP&R teams that provide localized support and expertise to public health officials across the state;
• Public health epidemiologists based in our largest hospital systems;
• Coordinated public health response to chemical/radiological emergencies;
• A registry of potentially dangerous biological agents possessed or maintained in our state;
• Public Health access to the Strategic National Stockpile of emergency medicines and medical supplies;
• Provision of potassium iodide (KI) for persons in North Carolina's nuclear emergency planning zones (EPZs);
• Public health laboratory capacity for identifying biological agents, emerging pathogens and chemical agents;
• The North Carolina Health Alert Network (NC HAN), a secure intrastate system for health alerts and crisis communications between state and local health departments, hospital emergency departments and law enforcement officials;
• Model practices for post-disaster epidemiological investigation and surveillance;
• A statewide Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool (NC DETECT) that monitors disease patterns in emergency department visits, EMS responses and poison center calls;
• Strategic partnerships with CDC , universities, hospitals, community-based organizations, state and local agencies and other public health stakeholders;
• Training and capabilities assessments for local agencies.

For Additional Information

• CDC Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response
• CDC: Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning