This program provides training and resources to local health care professionals and emergency first responders on biological agents and treatments of associated diseases.
PHEP works within the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Section to address programmatic requirements, as well as the fifteen CDC public health capabilities. Texas has 64 established local health departments, 45 of which participate in the PHEP program. PHEP works with these local partners to support the readiness of Texas regions and local health departments as well as responding to public health emergencies.
CDC 15 Public Health Emergency Preparedness Capabilities
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning provides a guide that state and local jurisdictions can use to better organize their work, plan their priorities, and decide which capabilities they have the resources to build or sustain. The capabilities also help ensure that federal preparedness funds are directed to priority areas within individual jurisdictions.
The CDC identified the following 15 public health preparedness capabilities (shown in their corresponding domains) as the basis for state and local public health preparedness:
Bio-surveillance Incident Management
- Public Health Laboratory Testing
- Emergency Operations Coordination
- Public Health Surveillance and Information Management
Epidemiological Investigation
- Emergency Public Information and Warning
Community Resilience
- Information Sharing
- Community Preparedness Surge Management
- Community Recovery
- Fatality Management
Countermeasures and Mitigation
- Mass Care
- Medical Countermeasure Dispensing
- Medical Surge
- Medical Materiel Management and Distribution
- Volunteer Management
- Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions
- Responder Safety and Health
The 15 Capabilities create national standards for public health preparedness capability-based planning and assist state and local planners in identifying gaps in preparedness, determining the specific jurisdictional priorities, and developing plans for building and sustaining capabilities. These standards are designed to accelerate state and local preparedness planning, provide guidance and recommendations for preparedness planning, and, ultimately, assure safer, more resilient, and better prepared communities.
Local Contact:
Curt Joiner
Jasper Newton County Public Health District
139 West Lamar
Jasper, Texas 75951
409-384-6829