Count on the Mohave County Department of Public Health
in case of a Public Health Emergency

 September 8, 2003 (Mohave County, Kingman) -- The two-year anniversary of the September 11 attack on America finds the Mohave County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) trained and confident that they have developed the protocols, resources and capabilities to effectively respond in case of a public health emergency.  According to Patty Mead, Director at MCDPH, “We have moved from being your friendly local public health department to an organization with first responder capabilities and a global view of public health issues.”

 “Our team has participated in numerous training courses around the country on a wide variety of topics and issues from smallpox to bioterrorism to crisis communications.  We have taken this information and applied it to our unique situation here in Mohave County with three major population areas (Kingman, Bullhead City and Lake Havasu), a large rural population, plus a huge influx of seasonal visitors.  As a result, we have made stronger ties with the state and other county health departments as well as developing additional resources and cooperation among the entire medical community,” added Mead.

 Throughout this process, a special effort has been made to outreach to the traditional first responders – police, sheriff and fire departments.  “This has been very rewarding for our team.   Not only have we learned a lot from them, we have also had the opportunity to further educate these organizations about public health in general and then work together to develop protocols that will best serve our communities in case of a public health emergency,” said Mead.

Volunteers are also being trained to assist in an emergency.  “As we have seen, an emergency of any magnitude requires lots and lots of volunteers.  Our goal is to reach out into the communities and identify volunteers willing to take the lead, if needed, and get them trained on our procedures so we can all be as effective as possible in as short a time as possible,” said Mead.