Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
When Can the PHO Help?
The type of response needed from a Public Health perspective varies by the amount
of time that has elapsed after an incident occurs. For example, what is needed from
the Public Health function is different in the first three hours after an incident than
it is after the first 12 hours (Figure 6.2). In the first hours after an incident occurs,
the most important function for the PHO and agency—based on the training
that has been performed and the exercises that the Public Health staff has gone
through—is to assess what the incident is (discussed above), then coordinate what
the public health response is going to be.
The opening hours after an incident occurs are the time for the Public Health
agency to coordinate with all necessary agencies and jurisdictions to determine the
response. In the first hours, the Public Health agency should determine if their
locality is affected (e.g., if the incident is beyond your jurisdiction's borders), and
how many people in your area could be affected. If the incident is in another juris-
diction, is it a significant enough of a disaster that it will still affect an increased por-
tion of the population that you serve? A PHO will also need to know who the other
responders are to the incident, and once in the area, who the Incident Commander
is—if the Incident Command System has been set up at that point. You will also
need to know if an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) has been activated, and
if so, or if it will be, providing information to the person in your agency who will
work within the EOC to help coordinate the Public Health response to the disaster.
Remember, Public Health will not lead the incident response except in rare cases,
so this early coordination in the first three hours after an incident is critical to
assuring a cooperative, efficient, and effective response plan.
As time passes from when the incident occurs, moving toward the period 3-6
hours afterward, there are additional responsibilities that the Public Health response
must take on. This is done while continuing to carry out all the responsibilities with
coordination and assessment that take place in the first few hours discussed above.
Figure 6.2 Time is of the essence in the immediate aftermath of an incident or
crisis and different responses are required at different times postincident.
