Training for Emergency Preparedness

In Minnesota, the Minnesota Public Health Act

specifies the shared public health responsibilities of the local authority and the state. Through the fifteen capabilities they created to be used as preparedness standards for the national public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are helping the state and local health departments with their strategic planning.

The Strategic National Stockpile’s mission

requires them to assist partners by providing the necessary resources at the right time to help secure the safety of the country. It is open to the public for free and has the capacity to service multiple areas simultaneously. The SNS incorporates twelve-hour Push Package; Vendor managed inventory, CHEMPACKs, and Federal Medicine Stations.

The SNS help in the public health surveillance monitoring

laboratory and epidemiology evidence and the rates of mortality and mobility. The state obtains SNS through EOC, formal requests and deliveries through trucks and aircraft. Scott County manages the Strategic National Stockpile through local distribution node that entails, security, operations, transportation and through Minnesota health department. The distribution is done through the Medical Countermeasure Distribution that includes the Open Points of Distribution strategy, Closed Points of Distribution and Hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic’s Health System and St Francis.

The 2016 Operation Readiness Review by the MDH

included the action plan and the Quarterly Technical Assistance Call. In most occasions, notifications are received through SNS partners, the staff at PH and HHS and the EOC through telephone and emails. The Medical Reserve Corps is made up of two hundred and sixty-eight volunteers and one hundred and seventy approved by the board. The requirements that must be attained for the grant involves; the restructuring of the present response plans, outreach to the childcare setting, the training of MRC and staff and finally the regional planning.