Public Health Preparedness helps health departments strengthen abilities to effectively respond to health consequences of deliberate attacks, natural disasters, and threats, including infectious diseases like the COVID-19 pandemic that impact communities everywhere. Information should be shared in a public health emergency and communities should comprehensively prepare for these incidents.

2018-2023

Projects

• The New Jersey Health Alert Network Modernization project has given NJDOH partners the ability to sign up directly to receive messages. County partners can use a modern tool to disseminate public health information.  As a result, NJ was able to decrease the amount of time to disseminate public health messages. 

Policies

• Public Health Emergency Notification System (PHENS) Operation Manual is currently being updated due to lessons learned from COVID 19.  
• Health Alert Network Standard Operating Procedure (HAN SOP) describes the policies and procedures for the management and operations of the Public Health Messaging (PHM), a means for disseminating public health emergency notifications locally, regionally, and statewide to key partners on a 24/7/365 basis.
• New Jersey State Emergency Operations Plan guides the coordination of all emergency responses through the NJ Office of Emergency Management. 
• New Jersey Emergency Support Function 8 (NJESF#8) involves supplemental assistance to local governments in identifying and meeting the public health and medical services needs to victims of a major emergency or disaster. 
• County Coordinators are responsible for coordinating the distribution and exchange of public health information between the State and local partners via the Public Health Emergency Notification System called the New Jersey Local Information Network and Communications System (NJLINCS) Health Alert Network.

Legislation

• N.J.S.A., Appendix A:9-30 et al. New Jersey Civil Defense and Disaster Control Act centralizes control of all civilian activities having to do with an emergency under the Governor and gives the Governor control over state, county, and local government resources necessary to cope with any condition that shall arise out of such emergency. 

Outreach

• The State PHENS Coordinator conducts quarterly meetings with County Coordinators to share information and update policies and requirements as it relates to the Notification System.  Depending on the county, the actual notification system is tested throughout the year.

Grants received by NJDOH

• CDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement

Grants given by NJDOH

• NJDOH issues Emergency Preparedness funding, from the above Cooperative Agreement to all NJ Local Information Network and Communications System (LINCS) agencies yearly.  LINCS is a network of 22 strategically positioned local health departments located throughout the state, the New Jersey Department of Health, all other local health departments, and public/private organizations.

Other actions

• Call down drills are conducted for public health leadership in each county.  These are held multiple times during the year and allow the State to make communication improvements identified. 
• Response exercises are conducted yearly, with information sharing and communication being one of the capabilities that are being tested.  

Assets/resources  

• The NJLINCS Health Alert Network has proven to be an efficient and effective way to quickly disseminate emergency and routine information to members of the New Jersey public health community.
• There are five regional Health Care Emergency Preparedness Coalitions and Medical Coordination Centers, and a number of Governmental Public Health Partnerships that work together to share information and provide multiagency coordination for the public health system. 

Challenges

• As New Jersey is decentralized, various structures of county and municipal government can hamper delegation of authority and responsibility as it relates to public health preparedness.   
• The State can provide guidance, but does not necessarily have authority, to implement when not in a declared emergency. 
• New Jersey has a diverse population, making it difficult to translate messages to all languages.  

Final Assessment

• All three Healthy NJ 2020 targets were achieved.

For more information, please refer to these resources:

• NJDOH Office of Emergency Preparedness
• NJDOH Office of Disaster Resilience
• NJ Office of Emergency Management
• NJ State Police Emergency Management
• CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response
• CDC Office of Readiness and Response
• Healthy People 2030