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NC Department of Health and Human Services
NC Division of Public Health
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Public Health Preparedness & Response

Programs

North Carolina's Public Health Preparedness and Response programs are designed to enhance and support our state's public health capacities prior to, during, and after a disaster occurs.

  • Biological Agents Registry - A program to monitor potentially dangerous biological materials in North Carolina.
  • CHEMPACK - A part of the CDC's Strategic National Stockpile program which provides local agencies with advance supplies of nerve agent antidotes.
  • Cities Readiness Initiative - Part of the Strategic National Stockpile program, this CDC initiative strives to enhance the ability of health departments to make rapid, large-scale deployments of emergency antibiotics.
  • Hospital-Based Public Health Epidemiologists - These on-site experts assist our largest hospital systems with early outbreak detection, epidemiological investigations, community health issues and communicating with public health agencies.
  • Potassium Iodide - Strategic forward placement of medical countermeasures for radiological events.
  • Strategic National Stockpile - A CDC program that maintains a national supply of emergency medicines.
  • Related Programs:
    • Laboratory Preparedness - The State Laboratory of Public Health (SLPH) manages our state's capabilities relating to laboratory identification of chemical and biological threats to public health. Housing both a Chemical Terrorism Unit and a Bioterrorism and Emerging Pathogens (BTEP) Unit, the SLPH provides preparedness training to labs across the state. The State Laboratory of Public Health also maintains the state Bioterrorism and Emerging Pathogens Strategic Plan.
    • National Toxic Substance Incidents Program (NTSIP) - Surveillance and public health investigation of significant chemical incidents is conducted by staff in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch in coordination with federal, state, and local agencies, responders and industry personnel.
    • Health Assessment, Consultation and Education - Long-term effects of toxic substance exposures on human and environmental health are monitored and evaluated by specialists in the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch of N.C. DPH.
    • HAZMAT Response and state Emergency Management – The North Carolina Department of Public Safety directs statewide emergency management services including regional hazardous materials response teams (HAZMAT), hazard mitigation, search and rescue, evacuation routes and more.