Emergency Preparedness and Response

The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County has been recognized as a nationally accredited health department by PHAB or the Public Health Accreditation Board. This means our programs and services have been measured against a set of nationally recognized, practice-focused and evidenced-based standards and we meet or exceed those standards.

Additionally, our preparedness program was recognized by the National Association of City and County Health Officials (NACCHO) as a Project Public Health Ready program. This recognition is the only nationwide evaluation and recognition program for community disaster preparedness programs. The Office of Safety and Preparedness works collaboratively with government, private and public agencies to ensure our community is all-hazards ready.

The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County is the liaison to the state Department of Health (DOH), who serves as the lead agency for Florida's Emergency Support Function 8 (ESF-8) Public Health and Medical. This emergency support function coordinates preparedness efforts statewide to:

• Assure the health care system is ready to respond when called upon
• Support local assessment and identification of public health and medical needs in impacted counties and implement plans to address those needs
• Support sheltering of persons with medical and functional needs in impacted counties
• Support monitoring, investigating, and controlling potential or known threats and impacts to human health through surveillance, delivery of medical countermeasures and on-medical interventions
• Develop, disseminate, and coordinate accurate and timely public health and medical information
• Support responder safety and health needs
• Provide public health and medical technical assistance and support