Role of Public Health Personnel

Role of Public Health Personnel

During the Franklin County disaster, there were numerous individuals that participated in the disaster response. Each member had a specific role in the Public Health Team. The Community Health Nurse was crucial in the efforts to assure that the residents of Franklin County were safe and their houses were repaired from the damages caused by the storm. By going door-to-door to asking questions from a prepared survey, the Community Health Nurse was able to better evaluate the needs of the residents and assess the level of coping that was necessary and report back to the team in order to rally support in order to mend the damage of the storm. Later the Community Health Nurse was able to provide support by offering assistance by phone through the disaster hotline, to support the residents and offer guidance of whom to contact for further assistance in matters that need to be attended further by individuals with certain specialties.

Chain of Command

In the Franklin County crisis, the team put an Emergency Operations Plan in place to establish a clear line of people in the chain of command. At the top of the chain of command was the County Emergency Manager as the Commander, followed by the Operations Chief, Logistics Chief, Financial and Administrative Chief and lastly the Planning and Intelligence Chief. While the Commander has his hands full he delegated responsibility to the Operations Chief to oversee the responsibilities of the Medical and Health Branch Director, the Community Service Branch Director, the Fire Branch Director, the Law Enforcement Director and the Public Works Director. The Public Health Group was supervised by the Medical Health Director. The Planning, Operations, Logistics, and Finance and Administrative Chiefs all reported to the Incident Commander. All tiers worked hard together to communicate the needs that needed to be accomplished in order to keep the residents safe during the Franklin County disaster.

Resources

During the door-to-door visits that the Community Health Nurse conducted, different scenarios presented that required outside resources the nurse was unable to complete herself. In order to meet the needs of the residents the Community Health Nurse used her resources of Environmental Health Specialist for the first household she visited, in order to assist in the cleanup of a spill. For the second household the nurse was able to suggest a nearby shelter that could help the family with their needs until a visit from a social service worker could be set up. With the third family who spoke Spanish only, the nurse was able to use her limited communication to provide information for cleanup after the disaster. The nurse can also plan for an interpreter to join her on her next visit to provide more thorough details. And lastly for the fourth resident,