Emergency Preparedness

An effective response to a public health emergency requires that the Department of Human Services and other state and local partners including county health departments, fire departments, law enforcement and hospitals work together smoothly, often in ways that are very different from their routine work. Emergency plans often require moving state employees to different positions and bringing in volunteers to help with added demands.

The state determined that the best way to reach the thousands of agencies and first responders is through a series of e-learning programs that can be reviewed online and then referenced at the time of an actual emergency.

Building an effective team during a crisis begins with a shared vocabulary and structure. Knowing how things work in an emergency, who all the players are and what they do will provide people the confidence they need to perform in an emergency.

Planet is developing a series of e-learning programs describing roles, responsibilities and processes for handling specific potential emergencies.

"States need to be ready at every level to respond to public health emergencies," said Governor Ted Kulongoski. "It is not enough to have good plans in place, because plans do not respond--people respond and through programs like OR Prepare, our emergency responders are better equipped to quickly and effectively take action."

Through custom designed e-learning courses, participants in the program will be better prepared to participate in DHS' emergency preparedness response plan by knowing how to take appropriate first steps and where to go for more information. This project represents an aggressive approach by the state to use new technology to deliver important information in a quick and cost effective manner.