Emergency preparedness is a vital function of health departments, hospitals and clinics in identifying unexpected events that may impact their community. However, uncertainty surrounding authority and responsibility of federal, state and local governments in providing public health support to UIHOs complicates the delivery of emergency preparedness services. In an effort to address this problem and facilitate collaboration between the UIHOs and their respective public health agencies, the Urban Indian Health Institute will conduct a comprehensive emergency preparedness evaluation of all 34 UIHOs. This project has three aims: 1) to become familiar with local/state/national plans for emergencies/disasters/pandemics, to identify how involved UIHO are in local emergency preparedness planning along with associated challenges, 2) to identify to what degree UIHO are able to respond to an emergency and 3) to help develop UIHO capacity for such a response.
Partners: Indian Health Service
Contact: Rachel Brucker, phone 206-812-3042
