Domina DiBiase, Emergency Preparedness Subject Matter Expert

The recent flooding and damage caused in the Carolinas by Hurricane Florence has many organizations reviewing their plans in case of an emergency – and just in time, as September was National Preparedness Month. This year, National Preparedness Month focused on creating and practicing preparedness plans, learning life saving skills, assessing insurance coverage, and setting aside emergency resources. All this may seem daunting work, but Ready.gov helps individuals and organizations break emergency preparedness into bite-sized steps that make the whole task easier to tackle!

CHCACT also helps to break this work into smaller tasks for our health centers. While health centers are required to have comprehensive emergency preparedness programs and plans, we support them in developing specific aspects of these programs and plans. Currently, CHCACT is working with TetraTech to develop a Continuity of Operations Plan template specifically for health centers. Continuity of Operations Plans allow health centers to ensure that they will be able to continue providing critical services to their clients during and after an emergency event, whether a natural event like a hurricane or a manmade event like an attack.

Additionally, CHCACT and health centers are members of Connecticut’s Regional Health Care Coalitions, which consist of public health entities and organizations from across the state. Participating in these regional coalitions allows CHCACT to act as a representative of our health centers and to coordinate with local, state and regional partners on emergency preparedness planning, training and response. Right now, the Health Care Coalitions are gearing up for flu season, monitoring hurricane season, and developing regional response plans.

As you can see, emergency preparedness is taking place at all levels and requires both organizations and individuals to participate in order to ensure we are all safe! Let me know if you would like more information!