Emergency Preparedness and
Response Programs

The Virginia Department of Health is providing an effective and rapid response to the health and medical needs of the citizens of Virginia during emergencies through ambitious collaboration, planning, training and continual testing and enhancement of Virginia’s public health response system. Virginia is ranked among the top six states in the country for readiness to respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies according to a recent study from the national non-profit organization Trust for America’s Health.

Planning, Assessment, Exercises
The Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs (EPR) continued the development and revision of response plans to address man-made and naturally occurring public health threats in collaboration with state, federal and private partners, as well as the public. Concentrated efforts this year included updating the pandemic influenza plan. VDH convened a special advisory group comprised of representatives of diverse groups, both health care and non-health care related, to discuss the implications of a worldwide influenza epidemic on Virginia. Additionally, VDH is leading a new Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI) in the Hampton Roads/Tidewater area after having coordinated the initial planning for CRI in the Northern Region in the past year.

VDH participated in VERTEX ‘05 in May 2005. This exercise, sponsored by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, simulated a hurricane scenario with statewide utility outage. VDH activated its Emergency Coordination Center (ECC) to coordinate response among eight participating jurisdictions and their local health departments, the Virginia Emergency Operations Center (VEOC), as well as hospitals and other entities. VDH exercised its continuity of operations plan during this exercise as well. EPR is currently planning for a multi-state exercise for October 2005 involving response partners in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. The October 2005 exercise will test cross-border issues in responding to multiple outbreaks involving biological, zoonotic and food-borne events. Other events, including Hurricane Gaston in August 2004, an anthrax scare in Northern Virginia in March 2005, and a drill to test response to the occurrence of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) provided other opportunities to demonstrate improved capabilities to respond.

Much progress has been achieved this past year in the recruitment and training of medical, public health and community volunteers to assist during emergencies. Virginia has 16 federally designated Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units throughout the state and many more health districts with volunteer programs without designated MRC status. These volunteer programs now have more than 6,700 volunteers and have participated in training programs and exercises throughout the year.

Surveillance and Outbreak Investigation
Surveillance and epidemiology efforts, managed by the Division of Surveillance and Investigation, are focused on strengthening infrastructure for disease detection and response. Epidemiologists working at the district, regional and central office levels are identifying and responding promptly to clusters of disease throughout the Commonwealth.

In addition, automated early detection systems have been deployed in two local health districts with plans to expand the system to other parts of the state throughout the coming year. These automated systems will allow more rapid identification of diseases traditionally reported to VDH, as well as identification of trends and patterns of certain disease syndromes.

Education and Training
EPR conducted a series of six regional train-the-trainer sessions on the topics of respiratory protection and personal protective equipment (PPE) to train a group of experts who would then train others within VDH. The goal of this program was to ensure an adequately trained cadre of PPE experts in each district and region to enhance personal protection and safety of VDH employees against certain workplace hazards. In addition, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, in collaboration with EPR, provided training on surveillance activities to nearly 400 VDH and community partners statewide to educate first responders on how to identify deaths potentially due to infectious disease or bioterrorism.

Health Alert Network/Communications
VDH’s Office of Information Management maintains a Web-based, statewide emergency alerting/communication system called the Health Alert Network to be used for dissemination of emergency medical information to public and private health care providers as well as state agencies during natural or man-made disasters.

Public Information/Risk Communications
To help non-English speaking citizens prepare for emergencies that may impact their health, VDH translated many of its emergency preparedness materials into various languages, including a health emergency preparedness information wallet card. VDH also produced a Health Care Provider Biological, Chemical, Radiological Ready Reference booklet for hospitals and other health care providers throughout the state. This booklet consolidates fact sheets for some of the illnesses that could be caused intentionally, as well as contact information for key VDH programs, into one resource.