CDHHS DPH emergency response capabilities are coordinated by the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (PHEPR). PHEPR is responsible for:

• Coordination of intrastate public health emergency response, including activation of the Public Health Emergency Coordination Center (PHECC), located in the DPH Building in Capital City. The PHECC is an interdisciplinary public health coordination center to coordinate statewide public health response, support local public health response, and manage public health resources in all-hazards incidents and events that involve public health. PHECC integrates with, supports, and supplies a liaison to the Columbia State EOC.
• Collaboration with other State agencies in public health-related preparedness, prevention, response, mitigation, and recovery, including radiological incidents
• Liaison with Federal entities including CDC and FBI 
• Initiation, training, equipping, exercising, oversight, and maintenance of the following public health resources for interstate (EMAC) or intrastate mutual–aid deployment. These resources are primarily CDHHS employees, but can include local public health department staff and/or Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers.
• Epidemiology (Surveillance and Investigation) Team: A Type I or II task force that can deploy to manage or assist with a widespread disease outbreak investigation
• Isolation and Quarantine Team: A Type I or II task force that can deploy to manage or assist with disease control activities
• Environmental Health Team: A Type I or II task force that can deploy to manage or assist with identification and reduction of environmental threats to human health from water, food, waste, and air (indoor and outdoor)
• Receipt, Staging, and Storage (RSS) Task Force: A Type I task force that accepts, stores, and manages medications and materiel from the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and/or Managed Inventory (MI) needed for large-scale distribution for mass prophylaxis
• Collaboration with the Office of Emergency Medical Services to staff, equip, train, and manage the following Type I combined task forces for EMAC or intrastate deployment:
• Public Health and Medical Team in a Shelter: Provides and manages basic medical services and public health protection in a congregate setting
• Medical/Public Health System Assessment Team: Conducts initial and ongoing system-level assessment of medical and public health resources and infrastructure in a disaster
• State-level coordination of mass prophylaxis activities, including SNS, immunizations, and KI (potassium iodide) distribution (pre-event)
• Designation of a Liaison Officer (LNO) to work with hospitals and other partner agencies in Liberty County, with EM, EMS, and the State DHHS as appropriate

PHEPR works with local health departments to increase their response capabilities through training, exercises, and deployments, and is in the process of training local public health, voluntary, and private sector resources to integrate with typed resources at State level. Currently, no local public health department in Columbia has FEMA typed single resources, task forces, or strike teams in place for EMAC deployment.

In the event of a public health emergency, LCPHD will initiate emergency procedures as delineated in the Public Health Annex of the Liberty County Basic Emergency Plan, which contains as annexes the all-hazard LCPHD response plan and incident-specific plans for bioterrorism, smallpox, mass prophylaxis, and pandemic influenza. The LCPHD Director or designee will be the lead public health official. Initial action will include activation of the Incident Command System (ICS) and the LCPHD Operations Center (HDOC) as appropriate. As an incident progresses, additional activities and functions will be added according to LCPHD plans. The HDOC will provide a liaison to the local Emergency Operations Center, and in an expanding public health incident, the LCPHD also will communicate directly with and designate a liaison to the Columbia State DHHS and, if activated, the Columbia State Public Health Emergency Coordination Center (PHECC). Public health incidents that involve other response entities in Liberty County will fall under the Liberty County EOP in terms of incident or unified command.

LCPHD is an active participant in the local InfraGard chapter. Through InfraGard, partner entities in Liberty County maintain mutual knowledge, interoperability, and situational awareness of bioterrorism and other hazards and vulnerabilities.

All staff of LCPHD have been designated emergency personnel as a condition of employment. Certain LCPHD members have received position-specific ICS training and will be available as members of the Central City IMT if practicable and if requested.

Locally, in a public health emergency, the LCPHD Director or designee is responsible for activating and leading the LCPHD HDOC. Essential positions and functions will be dependent on the incident but generally will include:

• Public Health operations:
• Epidemiologic investigation, contact tracing, imposition of control measures including isolation and quarantine, surveillance, and monitoring
• Environmental Health investigation and imposition of Environmental Health control measures, including closing of food preparation facilities and recommendation for declaration of public nuisance
• Maintenance of critical health services for populations such as pregnant women, families receiving WIC, and persons with access and functional needs
• Public Health laboratory operations
• Public Health pharmacy operations
• Responder health and safety
• Immunizations
• Mass prophylaxis operations (see Section I.6)
• Local Receiving Site (LRS)
• Points of Dispensing (PODs)
• Closed PODs
• Provision of KI (potassium iodide) and public education on KI to all potentially affected persons in the nuclear plant EPZ (pre-incident)
• Collaboration with Liberty County/Central City EMA, CCFD, and DPH in radiological incident planning and response
• Public Health planning:
• Epidemiologic data analysis and outbreak investigation planning
• Public Health situation reports and analysis
• LCPHD resource check-in and demobilization
• Documentation, including HIPAA compliance
• Public Health logistics:
• Medical Countermeasure (MCM) supply and resupply
• Staff, supplies, and equipment for LCPHD, PODs
• Tactical communications
• Management of a public health hotline through the Phone Center
• Information Technology support
• Food and facilities
• Ground transport
• Finance and administration:
• Time, compensation, and claims for public health staff
• Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC):
• LCPHD is a participant in the local Joint Information System (JIS)
• If a Joint Information Center (JIC) has been activated, LCPHD’s Public Information Officer (PIO) or designee will be a member of the JIC
• LCPHD Health Educators will work under the LCPHD PIO to generate and distribute information for responders and the public with the Public Health Director’s approval
• An incident Safety Officer (SO) (or Assistant Safety Officer if an incident SO has been assigned by EM) will be designated; duties will include monitoring HIPAA compliance

The Epi Task Force (ETF) is a team of LCPHD staff who meet, train, plan, and respond together to fill the above roles. As noted, response staff will vary depending on the incident, but core ETF members for initial response in disease outbreak investigation generally will be the LCPHD Director, Deputy Public Health Director, Epidemiologist, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Communicable Disease Prevention and Control and Environmental Health Program Managers, Health Educator, Laboratory Director, and Medical Director.