Public Health Policy

Purpose The purpose of this Disaster and Public Health Policy is to describe our County's approach to response and recovery activities related to emergencies and major disasters. It establishes the policies and procedures by which the our county will coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to response to disasters that affect this county. Additionally, it will describe the county’s response in six major areas of disaster response as well as describe how the county will implement new and emerging technologies and systems to ensure that we are doing the most to protect our county’s people, property and resources. Throughout this policy it will outline the responsibilities of county agencies and departments in executing effective
Furthermore, the policy provides the decision framework to enable county government to effectively respond to and recover from emergencies and disasters. This document identifies the responsibilities and actions required to protect lives, property, and the environment from natural, man-made, and technological emergencies and disasters. This document embraces the State of Mississippi CEMP, National Response Framework (NRF), the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 10 I, Version 2.0, the Presidential Policy Directive PPD/8, the National Preparedness Goal, and the National Preparedness System as fundamental guidance for the county's emergency management program. To reflect evolving guidance and requirements of these documents, the CEMP is amended and updated every two years and rewritten every five years. The structure of this policy is derived from that outlined in the State’s CEMP, NRF and other relevant Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidance. This policy has been developed under the concept of community­ based planning. The idea is that all sectors of our community play a critical role and share in the responsibility to protect life and property.
State Integration: The State's policy is that all emergency management functions be coordinated to the maximum extent with comparable functions of the Federal government [MS Code Ann. § 33­15-3(b)( 1972)]. When the Governor declares an emergency the full resources of State government, as directed by MEMA, shall be made available to provide assistance to local governments, or to otherwise fulfill state responsibilities. MEMA is authorized to request other State of Mississippi agencies to complete various tasks as appropriate for effective emergency management as defined in [MS Code Ann. § 33-1511(1972)). Resources will be requested by local government or state agencies in WebEOC® and tasked by the Logistics Chief or designee to the affected area. The Resources Unit, within the Office of Preparedness, will track personnel only deployed in support of response efforts If the state becomes overwhelmed and federal assistance is needed, the Governor may proclaim a state of emergency [MS Code Ann. § 33-15-11 (b) (16) (1972)], implement the Mississippi CEMP, and request federal assistance in one of two