Preparing for Public Health Emergencies
Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Preparing for emergencies is not new. You take steps to stay safe every day. For instance, you wear your seatbelt in the car, just in case you are in an accident. You make sure your children wear helmets when they ride their bicycles. Your great-grandparents probably had extra supplies in their home, including soap and shampoo in bathroom closets, onions and potatoes stored in the cellar, and canned goods on pantry shelves. They understood the value and wisdom of having a little extra on hand for emergencies.
New Hampshire has its share of emergencies, including ice storms, tornadoes, floods, and power outages. Refer to the sections below for state, federal, and general emergency preparedness resources to help you and your family stay safe and be prepared for any emergency.
For more information, contact NCHC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Coordinator, Zina Schmidt: zschmidt@NCHCNH.org
Resources
North Country Public Health Network Resources
- Access the Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Glossary of terms.
- Click this link to access the Regional Public Health Emergency Annex (RPHEA). It outlines how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from various emergencies. It is a component of broader emergency preparedness efforts, often involving Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) for emergency preparedness.
- Northern New Hampshire Medical Reserve Corps Unit
State of NH Resources
- ReadyNH.gov is New Hampshire's official source for information during state emergencies and how to prepare for emergencies before they happen.
- New Hampshire Department of Safety's Homeland Security and Emergency Management coordinates the State’s response to major disasters (e.g. natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods and severe winter storms), human-caused disasters (e.g. nuclear power plant accidents or chemical spills), and planning and training to prepare for terrorist attacks.
- Sign up for NH Alerts to receive public safety notices issued by the State of New Hampshire and severe weather warnings directly from the National Weather Service. NH residents are asked to download the NH Alerts mobile application from the App Store and Google Play to receive emergency and severe weather notifications from state officials.
- Regional Utility and Service Assistance
Federal Resources
- Ready.gov was designed to educate and empower the American people to prepare for, respond to and mitigate emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters. The goal of the Ready campaign is to promote preparedness through public involvement.
- ASPR: Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response: ASPR leads the nation's medical and public health preparedness for, response to, and recovery from disasters and public health emergencies. ASPR constantly scans the horizon to prepare for whatever emergency may come next, whether natural or manmade.