By EMS1 Staff
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an online collection of the federal resources and capabilities available to help public health and medical emergency management officials during emergencies.
The HHS Response and Recovery Resources Compendium, sponsored by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, is meant to aid officials as they guide communities in responding to and recovering from disasters.
The compendium comprises the main HHS capabilities, products and services, organized under 24 categories such as patient movement and situational awareness. Each category shows the relevant disaster resources available from HHS and partner agencies, and how to access them.
Resources include platforms such as GeoHEALTH and the HHS emPOWER Map that use geographic information system capabilities to support health response as well as consultation services for emergency planning, disease surveillance and tracking. Resources also include personnel, such as medical staff from the U.S. Public Health Service and National Disaster Medical System who can deploy to communities to augment local hospital, shelter or public health staff.