Dallas County Health Department

Response Plan for Disasters, Public Health Emergencies, and Pandemics

Local Public Health Emergency Plan
4 - Forward

1. This plan will outline actions to be taken by the Local Public Health Agency (LPHA) in conjunction with local governmental officials and cooperating private or volunteer organizations to; 1) prevent avoidable disasters and reduce the vulnerability of citizens to any disasters that create a local public health emergency; 2) establish capabilities for protecting citizens from the effects of a local public health emergency; 3) respond effectively to the actual occurrence of disasters; and 4) provide for recovery in the aftermath of any local public health emergency.

2. It is not the intent of this plan to attempt to deal with those events that happen on a daily basis, which do not cause widespread problems and are handled routinely by the LPHA.  It will, however, attempt to deal with those occurrences that create a local public health emergency, which creates needs and causes suffering to citizens that cannot be alleviated without the assistance of governmental, private and voluntary resources.

3. The Dallas County Health Department’s Local Public Health Emergency Plan (LPHEP) was developed through the efforts of the DCHD (LPHA).  During the development, various agencies, organizations and county and city governments were interviewed to discuss their roles, responsibilities, and capabilities in a local public health emergency.  This plan is a result of their input.

4. The DCHD LPHEP is a multi-hazard, functional plan, broken into three components:  (1) a basic plan that serves as an overview of the LPHA’s approach to a local public health emergency, (2) annexes that address specific activities critical to emergency response and recovery, and (3) appendices which support each annex and contain technical information, details, and methods for use in emergency operations.

5. The LPHEP is to be used primarily by the LPHA but all agencies involved in the LPHEP should be familiar with it.  The annexes and appendices are for staff.

6. The contents of this plan must be understood by those who will implement it, or it will not be effective.  Thus, the LPHA administrator will brief staff on their roles in emergency management when responding to a local public health emergency.  New employees, board members and government officials must be briefed as they assume their duties.
7. Staff with assigned tasks will assist in the maintenance of their respective segments of the plan (See Part IV of the Local Public Health Emergency Plan). The plan will be updated as needed based on after actions reports from public health emergencies, deficiencies identified through drills and exercises, and changes in the LPHA.