Public Health Emergency Preparedness

The Allegheny County Health Department’s (ACHD) Public Health Preparedness Program is responsible for ensuring the county is ready for any kind of public health emergency. We do this through an integrated and collaborative program that aims to:

  • Educate the public on how to prepare for emergencies
  • Partner with organizations throughout the county to prepare emergency contingencies
  • Put plans in place to lessen the impact of emergencies
  • Work to help the county recover from emergencies as quickly as possible if they do arise

Because the first response in a disaster is always local, any emergency response will be coordinated by city, county, regional, and state authorities.

ACHD's Public Health Preparedness Program receives support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through the Pennsylvania Department of Health, to advance six main areas of preparedness to assure that Allegheny County is better prepared for emergencies that impact the public’s health. Those areas are:

  • Community Resilience: Preparing for and recovering from emergencies
  • Incident management: Coordinating an effective response
  • Information Management: Making sure people have information to take action
  • Countermeasures and Mitigation: Getting medicines and supplies where they are needed
  • Surge Management: Expanding medical services to handle large events
  • Biosurveillance: Investigating and identifying health threats

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