Office of Public Health Preparedness

The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) works to protect and improve the health and environment for all people in Hawaii. The Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP) coordinates DOH emergency preparedness activities to protect public health and safety during emergencies and disasters, and works with the community to help the public prepare. Roles of the OPHP team:

Plan, prevent, mitigate, respond, and recover from:

• Natural or human-caused disasters
• Emerging infectious disease threats, epidemics, and pandemics
• Terrorism, spills, and accidents that impact human health
• Other public health emergencies or disasters

Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) – distribute emergency pharmaceuticals and other supplies in case of public health emergencies.

Department Operations Center (DOC) – coordinate an agency’s internal incident management, exercises, and response.

Develop and implement state and local response plans with:

• Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA)
• Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management (HHEM)
• City/county departments of emergency management (DEM) and civil defense agencies
• Additional partners and stakeholders

Coordinate Hawaii’s smallpox vaccination program.

Funded by cooperative agreement: Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP)-Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

Visit our public-facing website | PrepareNOWHawaii.org

Follow us @PrepareNOWHI | Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube

Last reviewed November 2023

 

COVID-19 Prevent the spread of COVID-19 and reduce its impact on our communities, click HERE. How has the pandemic affected Hawaii? Visit the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 websites, click HERE and HERE. COVID-19 FAQs (frequently asked questions) from the Hawaii DOH, click HERE. | Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) website. COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters FAQs, click HERE | Hawaii DOH COVID-19 page (hawaiicovid19.com/vaccine) | CDC website (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html). Volunteer with the Hawaii Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) to help your community during disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies, click HERE. No medical experience required.  Multilingual COVID-19 resources, click HERE.