DHS Information for First Responders on Maintaining Operational Capabilities during a Pandemic
Executive Summary
First responders have a critical role in prehospital emergency care and must continue to provide this essential service and fill the many emergency response roles in a community. The first responder community includes: fire, emergency medical services, law enforcement, emergency management, and 9-1-1 telecommunications.
During a severe pandemic, workloads will increase and staff sizes will diminish as employees and their families become ill. Contingency planning now can help reduce the worst impacts: smart planning can save lives.
To help with planning for the impacts of a severe pandemic, this document provides the following kinds of information for first responders:
• Potential ways to adjust operations to maintain readiness and response
• Potential ways for leaders in the first responder community at the local level, including two planning tools
• Reference sheets with discipline-specific potential action steps
